


Harry Potter and the Life Orb

by Tylanoid



Series: Harry Potter: Avatar Pokemon Trainer [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 19:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6092041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tylanoid/pseuds/Tylanoid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a 3-way crossover fic between Harry Potter, Pokemon, and Avatar The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra. In this fic Pokemon are the source of peoples bending, so a firebender needs a fire Pokemon to bend his element.<br/>After the horror of Tom Riddle's time as the Avatar, how will the newest Avatar Harry Potter go at Hogwarts school of Pokemon Training and the Bending Arts?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Strange Visitor

Emerald eyes swiftly opened as a thumping noise thundered through the small cupboard that was his bedroom. Groaning in annoyance, Harry pushed himself up off his thin mattress, turned his cupboard light on and looked dazedly at his surroundings. Another thumping noise, which Harry knew to be people walking up and down the staircase, sounded from above his head, and he rose to his feet to watch through the grate on his cupboard door. He saw his uncle round the corner at the base of the stairs and stroll toward the kitchen.

Stifling another groan, Harry pulled an oversized t-shirt over his head and exited his makeshift bedroom. “Where is the breakfast boy?” Vernon yelled.

“Coming uncle Vernon” Harry replied through the door, careful to keep his voice neutral. He knew Vernon was quick to anger over what he perceived as ‘ungrateful behaviour’.

It wasn’t that Harry wasn’t well behaved, in truth he very much was, but his Aunt and Uncle seemed to begrudge every breath he took, and it had been that way for as long as he could remember. Their son Dudley on the other hand, they seemed to think could do no wrong, though in Harry’s eyes he was spoilt brat and relished in making Harry’s life as miserable as possible.

Harry had to be as careful as possible today that he didn’t upset anybody in the house. Today was special because it was Dudley’s eleventh birthday, and the Dursleys would view any undesirable behaviour as a personal affront. If he upset anyone in the house he would be likely to go without food for a day or two. In Solus City, as in other cities and regions around the world, the 11th birthday was a milestone that meant a child could receive their Pokemon license, allowing them to own and train their own Pokemon.

Though Harry had never spent any time with Pokemon, he understood that they were the creatures that came in all shapes and sizes that lived alongside humans, and were their partners in life. Harry had always felt a pull towards Pokemon that he could never explain, despite his uncle Vernon forbidding him from going near them. Thus Harry had been sent to school in Little Whinging, a walled suburb in Republic that did not allow Pokemon in its boundaries.

Luckily for Vernon and his passionate desire to keep Harry from the world of Pokemon, their house in Solus City lay directly next to the entrance gate to Little Whinging, so Harry could not even associate with Pokemon whilst trying to get to school. Much as they might try, even the anti-Pokemon population of Little Whinging could not keep out Pokemon altogether, such as flying Pokemon coming in from the sky, or poison Pokemon coming up from the sewer systems. Any Pokemon that did get through the formidable defences was nevertheless swiftly removed.

“THE BACON IS BURNING!” Petunia shrieked in her incessantly shrill voice. Shoving Harry out of the way, she took over the kitchen much to the delight of Dudley who always enjoyed the overfeeding he consistently got from his mother.

Like his father, Dudley was shaped rather like a beach ball, and had his father’s head of thick blonde hair. Petunia, in contrast with her husband and son was a thin rake of a woman, and looked as though she might blow away in a slight breeze.

“Why don’t you just go collect the mail and make yourself useful” Vernon sneered at Harry over his newspaper.

Hoping that his aunt and uncle wouldn’t find anything else to blame him for, Harry swiftly went to the front door to do as he was told. Returning to the kitchen and putting the mail (of course none was for him) onto the benchtop, he sat at the kitchen table while Petunia finished serving up breakfast.

“When are we going to get my Pokemon?!” Dudley demanded, slamming a hand on the table. Harry shook his head imperceptibly at his cousin.

“We will go to see Mr. Ollivander just as soon as I’m finished with breakfast” Vernon told him, turning to the next page of the newspaper. Dudley grumbled and took an oversized bite of his breakfast, a noticeable crease appearing between his eyes.  

Dudley began tapping his foot on the ground under the table as Vernon kept eating, and Harry could feel the tension building, as he always did before Dudley was about to have a colossal tantrum. Harry started to slowly back away as Dudley’s face grew redder and redder. Luckily, Petunia noticed Dudley’s growing anger as well, and intercepted before things blew up.

“Dear, it is Dudley’s 11th birthday perhaps we shouldn’t make him wait on a day like this.”

Vernon looked up from his newspaper at his wife, who was subtly nodding sideways towards Dudley’s red and scowling face. He seemed to get the hint because he quickly folded up his newspaper and set it down.

“To Diagon Alley then shall we Dudley?” Vernon asked getting out of his seat.

Harry barely saw Dudley get out of his seat. “Ugh finally” Dudley said to his father. Harry rolled his eyes, if he ever spoke that way to Vernon, or Petunia for that matter, he would probably be locked in his cupboard for a week.

Harry looked up from his breakfast to see Vernon staring at him with beady eyes. This couldn’t be good, did he see Harry roll his eyes? Vernon would never give him a look like that without something bad to follow. Harry couldn’t help himself, he gulped and tried to look away, but Vernon’s glower kept him locked in place.

“Dudley, go wait in the satomobile, I’ll be there in a minute” he said, still not removing his gaze from Harry. Dudley looked between them and sniggered at Harry before he left the room.

“Now boy, when Dudley and I get home later today, he will have his new Pokemon with him, so where will you be?” Vernon asked Harry slowly, elongated his question emphatically; for emphasis, Harry guessed.

“I’ll be in my room” Harry answered him honestly, knowing exactly what his uncle wanted him to say. He didn’t like referring to his cupboard as his room, but he had made the mistake of calling it cupboard in the past, causing Vernon to accuse him of being ungrateful.

“Damn right you will, and when will you come out?” Vernon asked him, still keeping eye contact.

“Only when I am told” Harry answered him obediently. This must have been enough for Vernon, who collected his belt, which had six red and white balls hanging off, and walked out towards his sato-mobile strapping it around his waist.

Harry watched out the window as Vernon backed out the drive. He would have given anything to be Dudley in that moment, off to get his first Pokemon and go off to, according to Dudley, the most prestigious pokemon school in the world, Hogwarts.

“Stop wasting time gawking out the window and come clear up the kitchen!” Petunia called out. Looking away from the window, he realised that wish as he might, his dream would never become reality.

 

* * *

 

Harry thought he had it bad before, but his life seemed to become infinitely worse once Dudley returned, Pokemon in tow. He never actually saw the Pokemon, but as long as Dudley wanted to have it out in the open, Harry had to remain locked in his cupboard. He knew this was going to continue until Dudley went to Hogwarts, but he was hoping Dudley would get tired of his new Pokemon like he had gotten tired of every other thing his parents had ever gotten him. His cupboard under the stairs was filled with old and broken toys that Dudley had gotten sick of, Harry’s favourite being a small figure with an arrow tattoo that curled over his bald head that continued down his arms and legs.

Unfortunately for Harry though, Dudley had not gotten sick of his newest gift, and he had quickly come up with his newest way of tormenting his cousin. Every time Harry thought he was free to come out of his cupboard, Dudley would bring out a pokeball, and Harry would swiftly return to his cupboard.

Harry remembered the exact moment that Dudley had come up with the newest torture method. “See this?” Dudley had held up a small red and white ball in his hand, expanding to fit nicely in the palm of his hand. “This is a pokeball, and my Pokemon is inside, so whenever this is in my hand, you have to go back under the stairs, or my father will punish you.”

Ever since, Harry had been stuck in his cupboard for most of the time he spent at the Dursley home. Harry’s most dreaded time, going to school in Little Whinging, had very quickly become his solace from Dudley, although it was still awful. In little whinging, he was one of the only children at the school, and none were any kind of friendly towards him since he didn’t live in Little Whinging with the rest of them.  

The people of Little Whinging believed that Pokemon were not to be trusted, and that any human who interacted with them in any way was filth. Consequently Harry, who walked the short distance every day from just outside the wall, where Pokemon were freely allowed, to inside of it were they were not, was utterly shunned within their community despite the fact that he had never even seen a Pokemon up close. But at least in Little Whinging he could see the sky, being able to see anything beyond the four walls of the cupboard under the stairs could be considered a blessing.

Watching the sky was one of Harry’s favourite pastimes, especially when he was in Little Whinging, since he could watch out the window all day from class. Although Pokemon weren’t allowed in Little Whinging, people could not control those which would fly above the city, or roam below for that matter, and Harry would watch the skies until he might see one fly over, envying the freedom with which they could go anywhere they wanted.

Harry sat now in his classroom in Little Whinging tuning out his droning teacher Mrs Figg, a sour looking elderly woman who was talking again about the dangers of the world outside Little Whinging. The other students seemed captivated by her words, watching her with rapt attention as they always did; Harry thought because their families shared the same beliefs it was easy for them to trust that Pokemon were evil. Regardless of the teacher’s warnings and lectures though, he could not believe that Pokemon were bad, and unexplainably he felt that Pokemon and humans were supposed to live in unison.

Harry turned away from the teacher and stared into the sky, cloudless and blue. In his youth, Harry had wished he could grow wings and fly up into the sky with the Pokemon, but in his youth had made the mistake of telling his uncle, who had quickly and efficiently crushed his dream, telling him not to be ridiculous and that ‘people don’t fly’. Nevertheless, the sky had not lost its appeal to the young boy.

A movement in Harry’s peripheral vision caught his attention, and Harry turned to see a huge bird Pokemon flying gracefully across the horizon. The Pokemon was at the very least double the length of any human, probably bigger, and had red feathers across its body which became a bright gold in the feathers on its tail. The great bird’s feathers appeared to glow radiantly in the sunlight, and Harry watched, enthralled by its mysterious beauty. Where the Pokemon flew, a rainbow trailed mysteriously behind. The Pokemon soared behind a building and out of Harry’s view. He had seen Pokemon fly in the distance before, but never that size, and never quite so exquisite and unique as that had been.

“Boy!” Mrs Figg called out to Harry, who turned sheepishly to look at her. Even away from the Dursleys, nobody referred to him as Harry, just as ‘boy’. “Pay attention” she said through her pursed lips.

“M’sorry” he mumbled in reply, returning his gaze to his teacher, all thought of the Pokemon disappearing from his mind.

 

* * *

 

Harry stepped through exit gate to Little Whinging, at least he didn’t need to be checked on the way out, unlike entering Little Whinging, where he had to be searched every day in case he was bringing in a Pokemon. He walked down the empty street, his house lay just around the corner.  

Harry stopped as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, like he was being watched. He looked around suspiciously, but seeing nobody, continued on his way. When he walked around the corner, he felt something pull at the hem of his pant leg, and he pulled away in fright and jumped back. Looking down, he saw a knee high pink creature standing on four legs looking at him with a vacant expression.

“Ssssllooow” the Pokemon said to him in an orotund voice, elongating the word. The creature tilted his head at Harry as if examining him. Harry watched it warily. If he wasn’t in view of the house where the Dursleys might see, he might’ve taken advantage of the situation and petted the Pokemon, but his punishment would be too severe if he was spotted.

Slowly, the Pokemon stepped forward and softly nuzzled Harry’s leg with its head. Harry froze, wanting to reach out and pat the Pokemon’s head, but deciding instead to turn and run towards the house. Before he stepped inside, he looked back towards the Pokemon, which was still staring at him with bright eyes, a dim-witted smile etched onto its face.

Harry stepped inside and slumped against the front door, his heart almost threatening to leap out of his chest. Always he had felt drawn towards Pokemon, but he had never been so close to one before, and he had come so close to touching it. Harry slowly rose up off the floor and walked into the main room, noticing that nobody seemed to be home. He knew it wouldn’t be that way for long, ever since Vernon had caught Harry watching the Pokemon channel on the television once when he was alone, he always made sure Harry was never alone for long.

A scratching noise from the entryway caught his attention, and Harry looked out the window to see what was at the front door. The pink Pokemon was standing at the door, and Harry watched as it lifted its paw to again scratch at the door. Harry sat completely still and in utter silence as he watched the Pokemon scratch at the front door repeatedly.

A thought jumped into Harry’s head unexpectedly, what if Vernon was to arrive home to see the Pokemon at the door? Would he believe Harry if he said he didn’t go near it? Not a chance, he decided, and then he’d be in real trouble. Harry quickly made a decision and opened the front door, where the Pokemon didn’t look up at him for several seconds, then slowly gazed up and looked up into his eyes, goofy grin still stamped on its pink and white face.

Harry shook his head and frowned. Were all Pokemon this thick? Harry leaned down in front of the pink creature, hoping he might be able to reason with it. “Quickly, you have to go, if uncle Vernon comes back I’ll be in big trouble” he pleaded. The Pokemon looked at him with an empty expression, tilting its head at him several seconds later.

Harry wiped the sweat from his brow, Vernon would be home any minute. At that exact moment, Vernon’s sato-mobile pulled into the driveway. For a brief moment, Harry considered running, but the damage was done, Vernon had seen him, and Harry had nowhere to go.

“BOY!” Vernon roared, his face scarlet and bulging as he slammed the door shut. He thundered towards Harry, who grimaced at his uncle’s raging expression. Dudley and Petunia slowly got out of the car, even they looked hesitant at their husband and father’s reaction to seeing Harry with a Pokemon.

“It was scratching at the door-“ Harry began desperately, holding his hands up in surrender. He was cut off by Vernon brutishly grabbing a fistful of Harry’s hair and dragging him inside behind him. Dudley and Petunia hurried inside after them.

Vernon let go of his hair and pushed him against the wall. “What have I told you about Pokemon” Vernon asked in a disconcertingly controlled tone. The veins in Vernon’s forehead bulged worryingly.

“Not to go near them. But-“ Harry began again, but was cut off by Vernon when he put a hand up against his mouth.

“Then why were you with that slowpoke at our front door?” Vernon asked, his calm voice not agreeing the look of rage on his face.

“It followed me from school, then it was scratching at the door, I was trying to get it to leave” Harry answered, speaking quickly and talking with his hands.

“Then ignore the stupid creature! YOU ARE NOT TO GO NEAR POKEMON!” Vernon yelled.  He raised his hand out as if to strike Harry, something he had never done before, but his hand stopped halfway up. Harry had his hands out in front of him and his eyes closed, and it took him a moment to realise why Vernon had stopped. There was somebody at the front door.

All four inside the house looked towards the door, nobody making a move to answer it. Eventually Petunia made her way towards the door and gently opened it, leaving it slightly ajar. Muffled voices could be heard from behind the front door, Petunia obviously trying to get the new visitor to leave. The door pushed fully open abruptly, the startled Petunia jumping back as the visitor stalked into the house.

Standing in the entrance to the house was an elderly man, tall and thin, who had long silver hair and a silver beard that reached at least his belly button. He had a kind face, although Harry thought that might have been the kind smile he was wearing on his face that gave that impression. His bright blue eyes twinkled bizarrely, especially considering there was not much light in the room.

“I hope this isn’t a bad time, I heard raised voices?” The strange old man asked “You don’t look quite yourself Master Dursley, is everything alright?” he continued, the odd twinkle never leaving his soulful blue eyes.

“Master Dumbledore” Vernon announced through gritted teeth. “What are you doing here?” he asked quietly.

“Well I’m here on Hogwarts business of course!” Master Dumbledore said brightly with a dazzling smile. The elderly man stopped looking at Vernon, instead shifting his focus to look directly at Harry. Harry’s eyes widened, nobody had ever even noticed his presence much, and this new visitor was looking at Harry with the most genuinely kind smile he had ever seen.

“Well you must be Harry! I’d recognise you anywhere my dear boy, you look just like your father!” Dumbledore said to Harry, holding out his hand eagerly. Harry hesitated. In his whole life, he could only ever remember two times that anybody had been willing to talk about his parents. The first time, Harry asked where his parents were, and his Aunt Petunia had told him simply that they were dead. The second time, Harry had asked how they died, and Vernon had told him they died in a Sato-mobile accident, and told him not to ask any more questions. Here though, was a man giving him a kind smile and telling him he looked just like his father.

Harry reached out and gingerly shook Master Dumbledore’s outstretched hand. “You knew my father?” Harry asked quietly, still unsure of their new visitor.

“Well of course my boy, of course! Quite well actually. Your mother too as a matter of fact. Kinder and more loyal people I never knew” Dumbledore said fondly as he released Harry’s hand. “Your mother in particular was unfailingly kind, I think she would be pleased to know that you are staying with her sister Petunia, who I am sure is very kind also, especially to a child of her dear sister.” Dumbledore turned his gaze to look seriously at Petunia. She gave a little squeak and stepped closer to her husband.

Harry’s eyebrows turned down as he looked between both Dumbledore and his aunt and uncle as silence filled the room. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was clear that he had missed something in that last remark.

Vernon coughed loudly, breaking the silence. “So Master Dumbledore, you still haven’t told us why you are here” he said carefully, face still bright red.

“Well I rather thought it was obvious. I’m here to deliver Harry’s Hogwarts letter before his 11th birthday tomorrow!” Dumbledore said, smiling down at Harry.

Harry was dumbfounded. Dumbledore couldn’t possibly mean that he was going to be invited to Hogwarts did he? His heart soared at the idea for a brief moment, but he quickly squashed his hope back down. Even if Dumbledore was here to invite Harry to go to Hogwarts, his uncle would never allow him to go – he wouldn’t even let him near a Pokemon.

Dudley let out a sound like he was choking then. “Dad, _he_ can’t go to Hogwarts!” Dudley cried out. “He wouldn’t be able to train a Pokemon, and as if _he_ would even have the right blood!”

Harry had no idea what Dudley meant by having the right blood, but Harry’s face dropped as Dudley spoke. What Dudley wanted, Dudley tended to get, and now he wanted Harry to not go to Hogwarts.

“Hush Dudley” Vernon said to his son. “But he is right Master Dumbledore, neither me nor my wife have signed Harry up to attend Hogwarts.”

Dumbledore gave him a blank look. “Well of course you didn’t, his parents did, not long after he was born” he told Vernon. “I admit I expected you would know this, the Potter family have been attending Hogwarts since its inception during the time of Avatar Korra.”

Vernon’s face went even more scarlet than it had been since he arrived home. “Then as the boy’s legal guardian, I utterly refuse to allow him to attend” Vernon spat.

The smile fell immediately from Dumbledore’s face. “Well I am sorry to hear that. Of course I will be forced to fight your decision in the ministry courts, since the wish for Harry to go to Hogwarts came from his parents before they died, I feel it is ultimately their wishes I should adhere to” Dumbledore told them simply. “Also, you can also expect that the ministry will want to examine the reasons why you would not want him to attend, and also his … home environment” Dumbledore said the last part slowly and gave a quick glance towards the cupboard that was his bedroom.

Vernon spluttered and coughed as he went redder and redder. If Harry didn’t know better, he would think that his uncles head was about to explode.

“You interfering old codger! How dare you threaten me!” Vernon hissed. He reached down to his belt to lay a bulky hand on one of the pokeballs that hung on his belt. Harry backed up against the wall, he had never seen his uncle so angry before, and he guessed Dudley hadn’t either, his cousin joining him against the wall of the room.

Dumbledore had already lost his smile, but almost immediately he dropped what remained of the kind old man persona altogether, and a pressure seemed to emanate from him as he reached for his own pokeball. “I do not make threats Master Dursley. Even so, are you quite sure you want to do this?” Dumbledore asked him.

Vernon leered at him, anger rolling off him in waves as they stared each other down. A few moments later though, Vernon removed his hand from his belt and dropped his head. “You win” he said quietly “the boy can go to Hogwarts.”

Harry couldn’t believe his ears. Him, at Hogwarts? The idea was inconceivable, and yet unbelievably exciting. In that moment, all of Harry’s dreams seemed possible. Being able to be around Pokemon all year round, the idea sounded fantastic to the hopeful young boy.  

“Excellent!” Dumbledore said, his dazzling smile returning to his face as quickly as it had disappeared just moments ago. He reached into his long blue robes and pulled out an envelope. He took a few steps over and pushed the envelope into Harry’s hands. Harry turned it over to see the Hogwarts emblem stamped on the front. Despite where he was and who he was with, Harry could not wipe the smile from his face, even with his cousin next to him glaring at the letter in his hands.

Dumbledore put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Glad to see you are so excited about it my boy. I shall send somebody in the morning to help you gather your school things then, I would not want to trouble your family any further after all” he said to Harry with a wink.

“You mean a Pokemon? I’ll be getting a Pokemon tomorrow?” Harry asked wide eyed.

Dumbledore chuckled under his breath. “Yes Harry, a Pokemon” he told him still chuckling. Harry should have been embarrassed to be acting like a child he knew, but he was far too excited to care.

“Dad this is not fair, why does Harry get to go to Hogwarts?” Dudley whined to his father.

“Be quiet Dudley” Vernon told him.

“Well I won’t take up any more of your time. I will see the both of you when term begins. Harry somebody will be by tomorrow morning to pick you up” Dumbledore said nodding at the two boys.

“I suppose Harry will be needing more… space as of tomorrow when he gets his first Pokemon” Dumbledore said looking between Vernon and Petunia. “Good evening” he said finally as he stepped outside.


	2. A New World

Harry sat up in bed and pulled the cord to turn on his light. He squinted until his eyes stopped blurring before reaching down beside the bed to find what he was looking for. He held the envelope up in front of his face, looking at the Hogwarts shield emblem.

The emblem was split into 4 sections, each section depicting a different Pokemon. At the top left, a large orange and black canine, showed breathing fire. To the right, a beautiful cream coloured serpent on a field of blue. At the bottom left, a brown and white badger, or maybe a ferret. At the bottom right, a deep blue bird, with the feathers turning red under its beak and across its breast.

Harry smiled at the still Pokemon. Even being allowed to look at _images_ of the amazing creatures in the open was thrilling to him. Despite having only received the Hogwarts letter mere hours ago, the envelope and the letter it held already showed signs of being over handled, the paper being crumpled and bent out of shape.

Harry lifted the tab and pulled out the letter. He had read it so many times now that he could probably have rewritten it word for word if he wanted. He lifted the letter up in front of his face and began to read again:

 

_Hogwarts School of Pokemon Training and Bending Arts_

_Headmaster: Master Albus Dumbledore_

_(Grand Lotus, Chf. Master of the International Confederation of Trainers)_

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Pokemon Training and Bending Arts. Term begins on 1 st September, please be at Kings Cross Station in Avem City at no later than 10:45am, the train leaves at exactly 11am. **Students are asked not to bring more than one Pokemon for their first year.**_

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Master Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress_

_The following is a list of all necessary books and equipment for first year study at Hogwarts:_

****

**_Equipment_ **

_Generation VI Pokedex_

_Pokeball Holster - Belt or Jacket_

_At least 5 regular Pokeballs_

_Mortar and Pestle_

_Trainer-made backpack_

_Protective Training Clothing, including running footwear_

**_First Year Textbooks_ **

**_Battle Techniques and Strategy_ **

_Pokemon Types and their Effectiveness_ by Quentin Trimble

**_Pokemon Coordinating_ **

_A Beginners Guide: Pokemon Coordinators_ by Emeric Switch

**_Pokemon Habitats_ **

_Pokemon Types and Where to Find Them_ by Phyllida Spore

_Pokemon Behaviour Patterns: A Beginners Guide to Catching Pokemon_ by Selina Sapworthy

**_Pokemon Biology_ **

_Pokemon Biology (Grade 1)_ by Miranda Goshawk

**_Pokemon Care_ **

_Caring for your Pokemon Partner_ by Adalbert Waffling

**_Item Making_ **

_A Basic Berry Book_ by Arsenius Jigger

**_History_ **

_A History of Pokemon and Bending_ by Bathilda Bagshot

 

He had no idea what half of the letter actually meant, such as the bending arts and at least half of the items on the equipment list, but he guessed that was why Master Dumbledore had decided to send somebody to help him.

Harry might have asked his uncle to explain it, but he figured since Vernon was so reluctant to allow him to go to Hogwarts in the first place, he might be pushing his luck if he did.

As always in his windowless room, Harry had no idea what time it was, only that it was taking too long to pass. After an increasingly agitated sleep, he was getting more impatient by the second.

As excited as he was, through the night he had been plagued by dreams of himself being laughed out of Hogwarts for not knowing enough about Pokemon, or never even having touched one before. Nevertheless, Harry was determined to study hard and be the best trainer he could be.

The noise coming from upstairs meant that somebody was awake upstairs. A smile immediately made its way onto Harry’s face; if somebody was awake upstairs, it must be morning, which meant Harry wouldn’t have to wait too much longer now, although Dumbledore hadn’t specified when whoever was coming would be here, only that it would be in the morning.

Harry opened his cupboard door just as Dudley came running downstairs. “No way cousin, Gulpin and I are eating breakfast down here, so you’ll just have to stay in there.” Dudley told him, signalling towards the cupboard. Harry almost turned around as Dudley pulled his Pokeball off his belt, but quickly shook his head when he realised there was no longer any point.

“But why? I’ll be going to Hogwarts now too, so being around your Pokemon doesn’t matter now anyway” Harry replied, facing his cousin.

Dudley sneered back at him, reeling back his arm to throw the pokeball out. Harry put his hands up in front of his face and shied away without thinking.

Dudley snorted derisively, and Harry looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. “Merlin Potter, you won’t last five minutes at Hogwarts. This is how you release the Pokemon.” Dudley reeled back his arm again and threw the pokeball a few metres in front of him. The ball opened with a high pitched noise, and Harry watched in fascination as a white light emerged, and faded quickly until a little green Pokemon sat in its place. The pokeball bounced back into Dudley’s hand.

The Pokemon was almost completely round, only flattening a little where it sat on the ground, almost like a leather ball running out of air. It was bright green, with a black diamond shape on its back, a yellow adornment on its head in the shape a single feather.

“Gulpin” the Pokemon announced. Harry grinned as he heard it speak, its name was so fitting for the Pokemon, its strange voice sounding almost exactly like a person gulping.

“So it can speak then?” Harry asked.

Dudley rolled his eyes. “ _He_ is like any other Pokemon, and can only say his name. But he’s real strong, I’ll show you!” Dudley announced with a superior face. “Gulpin, use pound!” he ordered it.

Harry felt like he should back off, but it made no move to follow Dudley’s orders, simply giving a big yawn.

“Gulpin, I said use pound!” Dudley said again. Still, Gulpin did nothing, just sat still like it hadn’t heard him speak at all. Slowly it began to turn, looking at Harry with an odd expression before slowly bouncing on its body towards Harry.

Harry looked to his cousin for answers, who began to grin as he saw Gulpin advance on him, clearly thinking it was following his orders. The Pokemon stopped in front of Harry, but instead of doing what Dudley had told it to do, it nuzzled Harry’s leg softly.

“Gulpin!” It exclaimed in a happy tone. Harry bent down to pet the small Pokemon with a smile, and he was pleasantly surprised to find its skin was soft and mushy, like bread dough. Just as Harry touched the Pokemon, he heard his uncle’s heavy footprints come trudging down the staircase.

Harry looked up at his uncle, who was watching him intently. Vernon’s face started to go red again, and Dudley let out a quiet “ha” when he realised Harry was about to be punished. Vernon stalked up to him and looked down at his nephew. Harry’s eyes were wide as he met his uncle’s gaze. With a grumble, Vernon broke the eye contact and continued through to the kitchen without a word.

Dudley looked as confused as Harry felt. Harry must have assumed right; since he was going to Hogwarts, being around Pokemon is no longer an issue, though his uncle hardly seemed happy about the fact. Turning to study Harry, Dudley grew red in his face, looking spectacularly like his father. Dudley then gawked down at his Pokemon, still nuzzling Harry’s leg. He stretched out the hand holding Gulpin’s pokeball, and a thin red beam of light like a laser pointed out, enveloping Gulpin in red light and swiftly sucking him back into the red and white ball.

Dudley’s face scrunched up as if he was in pain, and he turned and followed his father into the kitchen. Harry numbly stood back up and went to follow before he heard several loud thumps from the front door.

Another colossal smile jumped onto Harry’s face as he practically ran to the front door to answer. Opening the door, Harry’s jaw dropped. Standing behind the front door was a man of enormous size. At least seven feet tall, and quite bulky, although part of the bulk may have come from the thick fur overcoat he wore.

Harry looked into the man’s face at least half of which was made up a thick black beard, and almost yelled out when the stranger reached down and picked Harry up in his thick arms. Harry was about to yell for help when he heard the giant-sized man laughing and felt him wrapping his arms tightly around his thin body in a bone crushing hug.

“’arry! I can’t believe how big yeh’ve got! Happy Birthday!” the newcomer said loudly as he placed Harry back onto his feet. Harry let out a choking noise as he thought about what just happened. Not only had this stranger said happy birthday to him, words which nobody had ever uttered to him before, but he had given him a hug. The man might look scary with his overwhelming size, but it was clear he was very kind and gentle.

“Thank-you” Harry said politely giving him a dazed smile.

“Oh m’sorry ‘arry, Rubeus Hagrid is me name, and I knew yeh when you was just a baby. Dumbledore sent me along to help you get your school things.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. Hagrid” Harry said

Hagrid let out a roaring laugh. “Just Hagrid ‘arry, everyone calls me Hagrid” he told him with a beaming smile.

Vernon came up behind Harry, and the smile from Hagrid’s face disappeared as he saw his uncle. “Master Dursley” he said, giving him a curt nod.

“The old man sent _you_?” Vernon responded with barely concealed disgust.

Hagrid frowned back at him. “Aye, he did. I’ll have ‘arry back ‘ere tonight” Hagrid told his uncle. Vernon chuckled softly to himself.

“Fine fine, take the boy” Vernon said, giving Harry a soft shove out the front door. Harry started to turn around, but his uncle was already shutting the door in their faces.

Hagrid growled quietly, the sound come from deep in his throat. “Ah well, come on ‘Arry, big day ahead of us we have” he said after a few seconds.

They started to walk down the street, the opposite direction from where Harry usually walks on his way to school. In his whole life, Harry had never walked the way they were going now.

“So where are we going?” Harry asked.

“We’ll take the subway to Diagon Alley first, get your Pokedex and the like” Hagrid told him.

Harry didn’t want to seem stupid, but he had no idea what half of those words meant. Hagrid must have sensed his confusion, because he clapped a massive hand on Harry’s shoulder as they kept walking.

“Speak your mind ‘arry, I’m here to help” Hagrid smiled down at him.

“Well, I’m just not sure what a subway is. Or a Pokedex or whatever you said” Harry answered

“Never ridden the subway before ‘arry? I thought you’d lived in Avem City all your life?” Hagrid asked him.

“I have, but I just walk to and from school every day, and I haven’t ever really been anywhere else” Harry admitted. Hagrid frowned slightly at Harry’s answer, and he wondered briefly if he had said something wrong.

“Where d’you go to school?” Hagrid asked.

“Little Whinging.”

Hagrid’s mouth dropped open at his announcement, and he stopped walking, pulling on Harry’s shoulder and crouching down to look him in the eye.

“Dodgy place Little Whinging is, full of whackos. Well I’m here to help. Anything you want to ask me today, go right ahead” he said, gripping Harry’s shoulder comfortingly.

Harry felt extremely grateful to his new friend. In the few short minutes that he’d known him, Hagrid had been kinder to him than anyone had before.

“Blasted Dursley. Mans as poisonous as the element he bends” Hagrid growled out as he let go of Harry and beckoned for them to keep moving.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

“Not heard of bending then eh?” Hagrid asked, and Harry shook his head. Hagrid rubbed his hand over his bearded chin, like he was trying to decide what to say.

“Well, some people, not all mind you, are able to manipulate different elements” Hagrid explained carefully.

“Like fire and water and stuff?” Harry asked, absolutely stunned at this new information.

“Exactly like that. But for a trainer to bend, they have to have a strong bond with their Pokemon see, and then that Pokemon has to allow them to use their element. What I said about your uncle then, is because he’s what we call a poisonbender” Hagrid answered

“So uncle Vernon can control poison?” Harry asked. He found it difficult to believe that his uncle could basically have a superpower that he never knew about.

“M’afraid so” Hagrid answered solemnly.

Harry took a moment to process the new information. He had heard of Pokemon doing amazing things before, and that was one thing, but humans doing things like that? He had never heard anything so crazy.  

“So how many benders are there?” Harry eventually asked him as they rounded the corner, entering another street full of houses.

“Plenty, all over the world they are. Firebenders, airbenders, waterbenders, plenty of them around” Hagrid said.

“So people only learn one element?” Harry asked, still not quite believing what Hagrid was telling him.

“That’s right. See it runs in families, like Poisonbending in your uncle’s family” Hagrid explained.

A spark of dread ignited in the pit of Harry’s stomach. “So my cousin Dudley will be able to control poison too?” Harry asked glumly. Dudley’s ego was big enough without giving him powers like that.

“More than likely, but not definitely. Sometimes it skips a generation, or maybe he won’t be able to get a strong enough bond with a poison type pokemon. Nobody really knows until it happens.”

Harry nodded, storing all the information away in his head. Hagrid abruptly nudged Harry and pointed further along the street, where a large red sign had Subway written in large letters, an arrow pointing downwards.

“See here’s the subway, a magnet train that runs underneath the city so people can get around quickly. Powered by Metalbenders too, so you’ll get see your first benders in action” Hagrid said.

The pair marched down the stairs into the subway station, and the staircase opened up into a large dimly lit room, a large ditch separated the two sides of the room, another staircase being on the other side. In the distance Harry could hear a clicking noise sounding repeatedly, getting closer and closer every second. Hagrid stopped moving a few feet from the ditch, and Harry looked up at him with raised eyebrows. Hagrid nodded his head down a long, black tunnel where the noise seemed to coming from, still getting closer.

Suddenly a large silver object came barrelling around the corner of the tunnel, the bright lights on its front lighting up the tunnel. The train got closer to them and began to slow down rapidly, and Harry realised there were two men standing on the front, their arms winding backwards like clock hands. Harry was about to point this out to Hagrid, but Hagrid was already watching amusedly at his reaction to them. 

“Metalbenders” Harry realised, understanding dawning on him.

“Yep. Pretty amazing isn’t it” Hagrid answered him.

Harry didn’t think that amazing was a strong enough word. The two men were physically slowing down the huge metal container by assumedly controlling the metal itself. Floating next to either men were two silver spherical metallic looking objects, with magnets connected to both sides. Stunningly, he realised they were not objects at all, but Pokemon, a big eye taking up the front of their bodies.

The train stopped in front of them, doors sliding open to allow them entrance. Harry had a quick glance at Hagrid to make sure they were getting on, but the man was already stepping inside. Harry quickly shuffled inside behind him, taking a look down either side of the long carriage. A few people sat in seats down either end of the carriage, not even looking up when Hagrid and Harry entered the train.

Harry trailed him further along the train, Hagrid mumbling apologies when he bumped into a few people accidentally with his tremendous size. He had to resist the urge to laugh when he saw the looks on a few people’s faces when they took in the sheer size of Hagrid. Hagrid sat down, the metal seat underneath him groaning under the pressure. Harry thought it best if he sit opposite him rather than next to him.

The train lurched forward sharply, rapidly picking up to a steady pace. “Normally there would be more people” Hagrid said, noticing Harry looking around at the mostly empty carriage, “but it’s still early, there will be more people as we get closer to Diagon Alley.”

“Diagon Alley?” Harry asked.

“The best shopping district in all of Anglia o’ course! Probably in the world, no matter what those people in Republic City think” Hagrid added. “Anyway, that’s where the Pokemon Center Hub is, so that’s our first stop”

Harry was beginning to feel a bit dim having to ask all of these questions, but for every answer Hagrid gave, they seemed to only create more questions. “Sorry to have to keep asking questions Hagrid, but what is the Pokemon Center Hub?”

Hagrid raised a thick finger and wagged it from side to side. “Don’t be sorry ‘arry, I meant it when I said yeh can ask all the questions you want. To answer yeh question though, a Pokemon centre is mostly a Pokemon hospital, and theres lots of ‘em all over the world. They also have rooms for travelling trainers to stay in, and it’s where trainers can meet up to organise battles and things like tha’.”

“A Pokemon Centre Hub is all tha’ and a bit more. They’re less common than the normal ones. They’re a bigger and do more for a trainer than the smaller ones, like official tournament sign ups, banking and Pokemon license registration, which is why we’re going, can’t get a Pokemon without a license after all!” he explained.

Hagrid began to hum a tune as Harry got lost in thought. He hadn’t been with Hagrid for very long, but already he was beginning to understand his new world better, as magical and mysterious as it was. The train began to slow several minutes later, and Hagrid slowly got to his feet, leaving his seat bent downwards. Hagrid rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he looked at it sombrely. “Oops, guess they don’t make these for people my size” he eventually laughed.

Harry grinned at him as they exited the now stopped train. The station layout was much the same as the one where they had boarded the train, only this one was swarming with people. Harry had never seen so many people in one place before, and half of them had pokemon with them. Large ones, flying ones, even a small mouse-like Pokemon that was sitting on one man’s shoulders.

He gazed bewildered around the underground room at all the people and Pokemon, slowly following Hagrid up the stairs. The sight on ground level was even more extraordinary. The pair of them were standing in the centre of a wide, open street, people and Pokemon walking around them everywhere. At the end of the street was a tall white building, a large pokeball symbol, big as a fully grown man hung above its open double doors.

“Tha’ there is the Pokemon Center Hub” Hagrid said, motioning for Harry to follow. He couldn’t take in enough of what was happening around him. Not 20 feet to the right of them, a man was jumping high into the air, flames from his feet propelling him further into the air as a small red monkey Pokemon spat licks of flames in his direction, all of them disapparating into beautiful sparks as the man twirled his fingers when they reached him. Landing lightly back on his feet, a small crowd of watching people erupted into applause. A firebender, Harry guessed.

Hagrid took him into the Pokemon Center, the inside of which consisted a very open, pure white room, a small statue in the centre of a tall man with a long beard holding a pokeball in his outstretched hand. The plaque underneath the statue read ‘Merlin, the First Trainer’.

There were several different desks, each with a different staff member behind it, the signs overhead revealing their purpose. The pair approached the desk marked ‘new trainer registration’.

“How can I help you today?” a kindly looking dark haired woman asked from behind the desk. “Young man looking to register as a Pokemon trainer?” she asked with a bright smile, glancing at Harry.  

“That’s right, 11th birthday today!” Hagrid announced in his cheery demeanour.

“Oh how exciting! Happy Birthday! Well I’ll get you sorted as fast as I can, I’ll bet you’re waiting to get to Ollivanders to get your Pokemon aren’t you” she said, giving Harry a wink. “Alrighty then, I’ll just need your name so I can find you in my directory here” she gestured towards her computer screen.

“Harry Potter” he answered.

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Potter? Like the Avem City Potter gym?” she asked curiously, flicking an eyebrow.

Harry tilted his head at her slightly, he had no idea what she was asking.

“Lily and James’ son, yes” Hagrid told her.

“Well it’s good to see another Potter getting his trainer’s license after so long” she said, leaning over to tap away at her computer keyboard.

“Okay, found you here, I should have this organised for you in a few minutes if you’d like to sit down just over there.” She pointed at a series of chairs off to the side of the room. “Oh wait!” she said just as they turned to go sit down. “I see Harry has been left an inheritance to be received when he obtains his Pokemon license. Would you like me to attach the bank account to his Pokedex?” she asked. Harry was confused again, no surprises there.

“Tha’d be great, thanks” Hagrid said, the woman nodding and going back to her keyboard.

Harry gingerly lowered himself into the white plastic chair in the waiting area, Hagrid making no move to do the same. He looked at Hagrid with furrowed eyebrows.

Hagrid laughed from deep in his belly, “Yeh saw what I did to tha’ seat on the train didn’t yeh? Imagine me on a little flimsy like tha!” He continued to laugh.

Harry couldn’t help but smile at Hagrid, he had never met anybody quite like him, so bright and happy all the time.

“So what did she mean by my inheritance?” Harry asked.

“Well yeh parents left yeh money o’ course.” Hagrid answered. “How else would we buy all yeh school things?” he asked.

Harry was stunned, he hadn’t even thought about money. Suddenly he felt unbelievably rude, Hagrid must think he expected him to buy everything for him! Going red in the face, Harry spluttered, trying to get words out, but he didn’t want to insult the man.  

“I’m so sorry Hagrid, I didn’t even think about money!” Harry eventually managed to say.

“Yeh got nothin’ to be sorry for ‘arry! Yeh didn’t know yeh Mum and Dad had left yeh money, but I did. Yeh’ve got nothin’ to worry about, I promise” Hagrid explained, trying to calm him down.

“Oh. Right” Harry said, feeling like an idiot.

“Looks like she’s ready with your Pokedex” Hagrid said, and Harry shifted his gaze to see the woman waving them over.

“All done here, here is your Pokedex” the receptionist said as they approached, holding out a thin red device. Harry reached out and took it, turning it over in his hands as he analysed the strange tool.

“So you know what the Pokedex is for?” she asked him. Harry shook his head at her.

“Well the Pokedex is probably the most useful tool a trainer needs. It is not only a hand held encyclopaedia of all the Pokemon you’ve seen or captured, but it also serves as a communication device, your personal identification, which includes your pokemon license, as well as giving you access to your money, you just scan that little silver square on the back there whenever you buy something, and the money will come straight out of your account!” she said joyously.

Harry thanked her as Hagrid guided him out of the building, the woman happily waving as they left.

“Well now, best get the rest of yeh school things” Hagrid said, walking them towards a shop called the pokeball emporium.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I was going to Diagon Alley all one chapter, but in 4000 words I only managed to get less than half done haha, and I wanted to get something out before I have to work for the next few days. In the next chapter, Harry gets all the equipment he needs, meets a couple of new faces his own age and finally gets his own Pokemon!
> 
> Props to anyone who can guess which Pokemon are on the Hogwarts emblem. 
> 
> As always, feel free to comment or message me. Also if anyone is interested in being a beta, let me know!


	3. Ollivander's Test

The pair strolled into the shop, the bell hanging on the door ringing lightly as it opened.

"Welcome!" the Store attendant said perkily from behind the counter. Harry looked around the store in wonder, he understood now why it was called the Pokeball Emporium.

Throughout the store were several rows of shelves, each holding numerous pokeballs of different colours, some even having different markings altogether. From what he had previously understood, Pokeballs were simply what trainers used to give their Pokemon a place to rest. But looking at the sheer number of different Pokeballs, Harry had to say he had assumed wrong.

Each Pokeball had a small information sheet beside it, and he read the one closest to him, a ball with a white bottom and silver top, with four deep blue bulges protruding slightly in a circular shape on the top.

The Heavy Ball – This pokeball is designed for use on Heavy Pokemon, working best on Pokemon weighing at least 450 lbs or heavier. The chance of capture is greater the heavier the Pokemon.

His brow furrowed at the word. Capture? What did that mean? He must have had it wrong because it sounded like the balls were used to capture Pokemon from their home in the wild.

"Interested in the Heavy ball, young sir?" The attendant asked as he approached him.

"Jus' after five normal pokeballs today, Ethan." Hagrid said, answering for him.

The fact that Hagrid obviously knew the man almost made Harry not ask the question that was ringing in his head, but he had to know for certain.

"Are these balls all for capturing Pokemon, sir?" Harry interrupted before Ethan could answer Hagrid.

"Sure are! The Pokeball Emporium has top notch, custom Pokeballs brought in from all around the world, made by some of the best crafters alive." he answered.

Harry frowned as he ignored the comment about quality. "…But isn't that cruel? To capture Pokemon and take them from their homes I mean?" Harry asked, looking from Hagrid to Ethan and back again. He hoped he had it wrong, that trainers didn't go out looking for Pokemon only to imprison them inside these balls.

"Cruel? Pokemon Training?" Ethan valiantly tried to keep it together but soon started laughing gaily. "Oh you poor boy! People and Pokemon are meant to work and live together. You must've been living under a rock to not know that." Ethan kept laughing as he went back toward the counter, shaking his head all the while.

Harry frowned at the back of the retreating man before looking up at Hagrid, hoping he'd explain. The giant man gave him a sad smile. "'e's right, Harry, Pokemon and people do better toge'er than apar', I've n'ver seen a Pokemon get upset 'bout being captured afore." Hagrid explained. "Yeh'll see when yeh get to Hogwarts." he added.

Harry's befuddled expression didn't change. He wanted to be a trainer more than anything, but to go out into the wild and imprison such magnificent creatures in these balls just seemed wrong, and he didn't know if he would be able to do it himself if the time ever came. In his opinion, Pokemon, like everyone else, deserved to be free.

Hagrid clapped an oversized hand onto Harry's back. "Doesn't matter 'Arry, we jus' gotta buy 'em right now, not use 'em." he said, motioning for Harry to go to the counter where Ethan was placing five red and white balls into a bag for him. Harry supposed he was right. As wrong as it seemed to him, he couldn't do anything about it now; maybe he could talk to one of the teachers at Hogwarts about it after term began.

He pulled out his new Pokedex from his pocket, inspecting the back of the red casing to find the small silver mark so he could pay for his new Pokeballs. Ethan pointed out where to scan on the counter, and the Pokedex made a small beeping noise when it finished scanning. The pair left the Pokeball Emporium with a small bag holding his new purchases.

"So what's next?" Harry asked, again looking around the open street of Diagon Alley in wonder at all the people and Pokemon.

"Madam Malkin's." Hagrid answered, pointing towards one of the streets' largest stores. Harry's gaze focused on the store, regarding the sign outside with interest. Madam Malkin's Protective Trainer's Clothing and Equipment, it read. "Madam Malkin sells some o' the bes' trainer gear around, yeh might even find some new clothes to get out o' yer cousin's old gear." Hagrid continued.

Harry goggled at Hagrid, wondering how he knew he was wearing Dudley's old things. "Well yer obviously not wearing yer own gear; much too big for yeh." he said, answering the question he hadn't been asked. Harry looked down at the shabby clothes he was wearing. Hagrid was right, his clothes were far too big. But he had only ever had Dudley's hand-me-downs, the problem being that Dudley was twice his size.

The twosome made their way through the crowd in the street and Harry was grateful that Hagrid was so large, it made it difficult to lose him in the ocean of people that now flooded Diagon Alley. They finally arrived at Madam Malkin's and strolled through the door. A number of other customers were in the store carefully picking out different outfits and considering the items on show. Most of the store was filled with racks of different clothes, with some being marked as protective gear, though Harry didn't know what made it protective, they looked just like normal outfits to him.

"Well I'd bet my left shoe this young man is a Potter, looks just like his father" a voice said from behind him. Harry turned around to find a squat, elderly woman eyeing him with a smile.

"Madam Malkin!" Hagrid exclaimed fondly, spreading out his arms in greeting.

"Hagrid my dear, how's my favourite customer doing today?" Madam Malkin greeted Hagrid just as fondly, stepping closer to him as Hagrid bent down so she could give him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Very well, jus' 'elping young 'arry collect 'is school things." Hagrid answered her before turning to Harry. "Arry, this is Madam Maryanne Malkin, yer in great hands with 'er. 'elped me with all my trainer gear she 'as, custom made all of it too, considering me size." Hagrid said, rubbing the lapels of his coat.

Harry held out his hand. "Nice to meet you." he said with a smile.

"Such good manners!" She shook Harry's hand. "But such poor dress sense!" Madam Malkin clicked her tongue as she walked around Harry, looking him up and down. "It's a good thing you've come Mr. Potter, I'll have you sorted in no time at all!" Madam Malkin clapped her hands together excitedly, seeming to relish the challenge.

For an older woman, she was surprisingly sprightly, grabbing Harry by his thin wrist and dragging him over to a small podium in the corner. She reached over to a small shelf on the wall for her measuring tape, stretching it out and taking Harry's measurements. She muttered quietly, seemingly to herself while she worked. She had Harry lift up his arms to measure their length, as well as measuring his skinny waist.

"All done! How much were you looking to buy today? One protective outfit and running shoes is all you need, but many students buy more since you will be wearing it most days, it's up to you though, dear." she said.

"Err… I'm not even sure how much money I actually have." Harry admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. Madam Malkin gave Hagrid an expressionless look.

Hagrid's face went bright red before he laughed and slapped Harry on the back. He knew Hagrid meant well, but the blow almost sent him flying through the nearby wall.

"Sorry 'Arry, I shoulda showed yeh 'ow to check yer bank account earlier. Grab yeh Pokedex." Hagrid said.

Harry pulled his Pokedex out again. "Pull the two ends apart from each other." Hagrid told him. Harry gripped both sides of the Pokedex and slid them slowly away from each other, a holographic screen appearing in between the two ends. There were a number of 'buttons' to press on the holographic screen, but Harry had never seen anything like it so he had no idea what to do with it.

"See that button for Gringotts there in the corner?" Hagrid pointed to a small button on the top corner. Harry nodded and tapped it with his finger. Immediately the screen changed, and an account for Harry's bank came up. Harry looked at the number, and almost had to physically stop his mouth from dropping.

"Is this amount right?" Harry asked in utter disbelief, he could afford to buy anything he wanted with that amount of money.

"Yep, yeh parents wanted to make sure yeh'd be well looked after." Hagrid answered.

"Very good then, perhaps I should include a number of different colours and styles of protective clothing, shoes included. I think perhaps you should think about getting some regular clothes for weekends and free time. Your current outfit is far too big!" Madam Malkin exclaimed, clicking her tongue again.

"Okay then, why not?" Harry said, still not quite believing the size of his bank account. Madam Malkin gave him a beaming smile and took off in a flurry. The woman was like a selective tornado, tearing whatever she wanted off the shelves in a burst of rapid movements, and leaving the rest in its perfectly organised state.

It wasn't long before she returned with an armful of clothes, placing them gently on the floor in front of Harry.

"I took the liberty of gathering several protective outfits, and a few outfits for weekends and things when you don't need your trainer outfit on." Madam Malkin said.

Harry had read on the letter and heard Madam Malkin mention protective gear several times now, but he still had no idea what made it protective. "What actually is protective gear?" Harry asked her.

Madam Malkin turned her head to the side, obviously not expecting the question. "Well they're outfits that will protect you from the elements. Not perfectly of course, but if you were to get hit with a flamethrower with your current clothes on, things would end a lot worse than if you'd had the protective clothing on instead. They're often referred to as Trainer's clothes." she explained. Madam Malkin's eyes lit up suddenly and she disappeared behind the counter and out the back of the store out of sight. Harry looked at Hagrid, who shrugged at him, clearly as confused as he was.

She walked back through the store, this time holding a pokeball in her hand. "I'll show you!" She said. She lifted the Pokeball up into the air,but instead of throwing it like Dudley had said was essential she simply pressed the middle button of the pokeball and the white energy seeped out of the ball and onto the ground, quickly materialising into a small candle-like Pokemon.

"Litwick." the Pokemon said in a small, high pitched voice. It was only quite small and white coloured, only about the same height as Gulpin had been, with a purple flame flickering on the top of its head.

"Litwick." it said again, looking at Harry with yellow coloured eyes.

"Err… Hi?" Harry said awkwardly.

"Litwick, this is Harry." Madam Malkin said. "Harry wants to see how our protective clothing works, so when I hold up something, do you think you could give it an ember?" she asked her Pokemon.

"Litwick!" it said once in return, a determined glint appearing in its eyes. Madam Malkin bent down to pick up one of the plain black jackets she had picked out for Harry, and held it out beside her. She gave a nod to Litwick, who quickly released three small sparks of flame at the jacket. The jacket appeared untouched a moment later, even though Harry had clearly seen the flames hit it dead on.

"Now that was only a fairly weak fire attack, anything stronger and the jacket wouldn't have come off so perfectly, but they will protect you well enough." she said.

"Litwick." the pokemon said happily, agreeing with her.

Harry didn't know quite what to say. It wasn't that the protective clothes themselves weren't amazing, they absolutely were, but he was far more impressed with the little candle creature shooting fire out of its mouth. He knew that Pokemon could do amazing things like that, and he had even seen the little monkey pokemon shoot fire like that earlier that day, but seeing it up close, and seeing the energy of the Pokemon as it used its abilities was utterly exhilarating. For a moment as it used its fire, Harry would have sworn he could feel the energy radiating off the Pokemon, and the feeling was incredible.

"So I've gathered all these clothes here for you, did you want to go through them? Or are you happy to make your purchase now?" Madam Malkin asked.

Harry shook his head to refocus on the task at hand. "No that's fine, I think I'd just like to pay for them. Thanks very much for helping me." he said grinning.

 

* * *

 

 

"So I think that's everything on the list." Harry said, inspecting his Hogwarts letter for confirmation.

"Not quite, aren't yeh forgettin' summat?" Hagrid asked him grinning beneath his furry beard.

Harry frowned and thought for a moment while he read the contents of his letter. Everything on the list had now been purchased. After Madam Malkins, they had gone to Potage's Potions and Berries to buy a Mortar and Pestle. At Wiseacre's Pokemon equipment they had gotten a Pokeball belt, as well as a spare holster meant for inside of a jacket. At the same store they had found a Trainer's backpack, which was now wrapped around Harry's shoulders holding everything they had bought throughout the day.

After buying his textbooks at Flourish and Blotts, Hagrid had even taken him to the Pokemon menagerie for some items that weren't on the list, but Hagrid recommended as a good idea anyway. There he had bought Pokemon treats, a few potions just in case and some berries, which were apparently very good for a Pokemon's health. The pair of them were just leaving the store now.

"I can't believe I forgot!" Harry said as he thought about where they just were. "We still have to get my Pokemon!"

Hagrid shook his head in amused disbelief. "No matter, it's been a busy day after all." he said.

"So where do we go to get new Pokemon?" Harry asked.

"We'll 'ave to get back on the subway to get to Ollivanders, 'e's the man to see fer a firs' Pokemon, best in the business 'e is." Hagrid said.

"Why do we have to get back on the subway though? I thought we could get everything here in Diagon Alley?" Harry asked.

"Ollivander has a place right at the edge of the city, he needs the space so the Pokemon can run free in the fields outside the city." Hagrid explained.

Harry nodded and trailed Hagrid as they walked back towards the subway. He was suddenly nervous. After a lifetime of wanting a Pokemon, what if he got one and it didn't like him? He might end up knowing so little about Pokemon that it wouldn't trust him at all. Butterflies crept into Harry's stomach as they wandered down the stairs towards the subway.

They didn't have to wait long for the next train to come through, and Harry watched with amazement again as the metalbenders slowed the train to a halt. There were more people on the train compared to that morning, and they had to stand now since there were no available seats, though after Hagrid's issue from that morning it was probably for the best.

They rode in silence for the next few minutes, with Harry's brain drifting in thought with what Pokemon he would end up with, and if he would be good enough to gain its trust. His stomach had refused to stop churning with his nervousness, so he was instead trying to remember everything he had learned that day.

The train soon screeched to a halt at their stop, and Hagrid gave him a small nudge to signal him to get off as the doors slowly slid open. There were only a few others to get off at the station, which Harry was glad for. As much as he had enjoyed seeing so many people, especially since he was used to only seeing so few, he really didn't enjoy the chaos that came along with so many people being around.

They walked up the stairs to return to street level, and they looked to be in another area of the suburbs, much like where the Dursleys lived just near Little Whinging. Hagrid pointed across the road, where Harry could see rolling hills and grassy plains stretched out before them. Directly across the road though was an ordinary house, a sign out the front reading 'Ollivanders'. The house was completely solitary, not another building near it on that side of the road, Hagrid wasn't kidding when he said it was the edge of the city.

"This is an odd looking shop." Harry noted as they walked across the empty road.

"Well it's not a shop really. Yeh won't need to pay 'im, and 'e lives 'ere and looks after all the Pokemon. 'e just likes to give first time trainers a helping hand by giving 'em their firs' Pokemon." Hagrid said.

By this time they were entering the shop – or house, Harry supposed it was a strange mixture of the two. Inside was a small room, a staircase on the far side that led up to the upper level. There was a small counter with a bell ringer sitting in the centre. Hagrid was about to press it when there was a sound of muffled voices from outside.

The door opened when the voices got louder, and an elderly man walked in, trailed by two very ordinary looking adults, a man and a woman, with a small girl who looked to be around Harry's own age, carrying an egg shaped object patterned with small red and blue triangles and squares. The girl had lots of bushy, wild brown hair and equally brown eyes set in a kind and pretty face.

"Ahh Hagrid, good to see you. Hope you haven't been waiting long." the older man said.

"Jus' arrived actually." Hagrid answered him.

"Good, good. I'll just go fetch Miss Granger's pokeball for her new Pokemon, and then I'll be right with you." he said, stepping behind the counter and through the door behind.

The girl was muttering excitedly with who Harry assumed were her parents. Abruptly the egg she was holding in her hands seemed to changed shape, the top of it opening outwards strangely until a face appeared. A pokemon, Harry belatedly realised.

She gently placed the Pokemon onto the ground, and Harry took in its strange body in its entirety. Its physical body was pale yellow and rounded, and encased in what looked like an eggshell, except for its head, hands and feet. The top of its head was made up of five spikes, each pointed away from its body, like a crown. Its stubby hands and feet protruded only barely from the egg casing.

"Togepiii." it said brightly, taking a few wobbly steps. Harry didn't even realise he was smiling at the Pokemon, but he couldn't help it, the strange little creature seemed to exude happiness out of its very skin. It must have noticed him then, because it took a few wobbly steps towards him, opening its mouth in a wide smile, the kind of smile that reached its eyes. It stopped at Harry's feet and looked up at him with bright eyes. "Togepi." it said again.

The girl walked over and scooped the Pokemon up into her arms. "Sorry about that." she said kindly.

"No problem. Is this your first Pokemon?" Harry asked.

"Yes. This is Togepi." she introduced, turning the Pokemon around to face Harry. He smiled at the Pokemon again, and it spoke its name gleefully again. "I'm Hermione Granger." she said, holding out a hand to Harry, still holding Togepi to her chest with her other arm.

"Harry Potter." he said, shaking her hand.

"Oh, like the Potter Gym?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Err, I guess so?" Harry answered, unsure if it was even the right answer.

"Oh how great! You must be going to Hogwarts as well?" she asked animatedly.

Harry smiled at her. "Yeah, I got my letter last night actually." he answered.

"I'm so excited to go to Hogwarts, I'll be the first of my family to be a Pokemon trainer. I actually turned 11 last September, but I was thinking of becoming a dentist like my parents." she looked over towards them then, and Harry gave them a smile. "But then I decided I wanted to become a Pokemon trainer, and so I applied at Hogwarts, not thinking in a million years that I would get in, but I received my letter a few days ago. Isn't it exciting?"

Harry nodded at her. "I know, I can't wait either." he said.

At that moment the older man came back out, handing Hermione a pokeball. Hermione smiled and thanked him.

"Look after Togepi Miss Granger, it's not often I get a Pokemon that rare." he said to her.

"I will Mr Ollivander, thank-you. It was nice meeting you Harry! See you at Hogwarts!" she said waving as she left with her parents.

Harry turned back towards Hagrid and Mr Ollivander.

"Well Mr. Potter, Hagrid, I hope you wouldn't say no to a bite to eat, I'm starved." Mr Ollivander said to him.

Harry raised his eyebrows in an unspoken question. "It wasn't hard to guess who you were Mr. Potter, you look just like your father." Mr Ollivander said simply. Harry figured that fact must definitely be true, he had heard it enough throughout the day.

"Well come on through, and I'll fix us some lunch." he said.

 

* * *

 

 

"So Harry, has Hagrid explained how this process works?" Mr Ollivander asked. Harry shook his head, pushing his finished sandwich plate away from him.

"Okay, well I'm sure you know that I arrange for first time trainers to get their first Pokemon. What you might not know is how the decision is made on which Pokemon goes to which trainer. How I accomplish this is by asking a series of questions, and then I make the decision myself based on your answers. There are no right or wrong answers, so there's no need to be nervous." he explained.

"So how do my answers decide what Pokemon I get?" Harry asked, hoping he wouldn't answer stupidly, although Ollivander did say there were no right or wrong answers.

"Well, the questions I ask you are to answer three main questions that I myself have when deciding which Pokemon to give to which trainer. The first question I need answered is what Pokemon type would be best suited to the trainer. The second is which specific Pokemon among that type would be best suited to that trainer's personality. The third is which species of Pokemon is appropriate for that trainer's level of knowledge and experience."

Harry nodded as the nervousness from the train claimed him again.

"Let's get started then, shall we? I ask for you not to interrupt if you would, Hagrid." he said to Hagrid, who was currently eating his fourth sandwich next to Harry. "I'll also ask that you, Harry, make sure you really think about the question before answering, and answer what you truly feel, not just what you think you should feel." Mr Ollivander said.

"First question then: If you could live anywhere, in any climate, where would you want to live most? Your answer could be in the mountains, on the beach, anywhere you like."

Harry had to stop and think quite hard, and this was only the first question. "I'm uhh..., really not sure." Harry said, still thinking. Mr Ollivander didn't say anything, just watched him intently, waiting for a proper answer. Harry thought more about the question, going through locations in his mind. Anywhere away from the Dursleys seemed appealing to him. Then he thought of the mountains, and how he could always look at the sky like he did at school out the window, and his decision was made.

"In the mountains." Harry answered.

"What do you do for fun, any hobbies?" he asked him next.

Harry didn't even have to think to answer this one. "I don't really do anything, and I don't have any hobbies." he said. Ollivander furrowed his brows.

"So what do you do in your spare time?" he asked.

"I guess I do my chores, like clean and cook and stuff, and then just spend time in my cu-- room." Harry hesitantly answered. Vernon would have been furious if he'd heard what Harry almost said, and he went red in embarrassment.

Ollivander seemed to have to think before asking his next question. "Where do you go to school Harry? Anything fun there?" Ollivander asked.

"Little Whinging." Harry answered, screwing up his face. "I don't really like it there much though."

Mr Ollivander hesitated at his answer, turning to look at Hagrid in disbelief. Out of his peripheral vision, Harry saw Hagrid nod his head gravely.

"Then I can assume you don't know much about Pokemon right?" he asked Harry.

"Only what I've learned today I guess" Harry said.

"Well that's okay, I'll just have to ask slightly different questions." Ollivander said, clearing his throat and giving Harry a smile.

"So is there anything you like doing at all? It doesn't have to be a hobby, just something you enjoy, no matter how insignificant you think it is." he asked next.

Harry briefly thought, but it wasn't long before he landed on an answer. "I like looking at the sky out the window at school. Sometimes I can see Pokemon flying out in the distance." Harry answered.

"Good answer Harry. My next question might be a little hard for you to answer due to your lack of Pokemon expertise, but do your best to answer okay? I'll alter the question I normally ask a bit to make it easier." Ollivander asked him. At Harry's nod, he continued. "If and when you capture a second Pokemon, where would it be, and if you know of a specific Pokemon, what would it be?" he asked.

This time Harry didn't know if he should answer honestly or not, but knew what he wanted to say. Thinking back to Ollivander telling him there was no right or wrong answers, he gathered the courage to answer honestly. "Well actually, I don't much like the idea of capturing a Pokemon at all. I hope you don't think me strange like the guy at the Pokeball Emporium did, but the idea of taking a Pokemon from its home by capturing it in a little ball just doesn't seem right to me." Harry explained.

Ollivander's eyes scanned him deeply, and Harry felt like he could see right through him, down to the very essence of who he was. After a few moments, he smiled again. "I don't think you are strange at all Harry, remarkable certainly, and you think quite independently from other boys your age, but you are not strange." Ollivander said.

Harry didn't know how to feel about that, was it a good thing to think differently than other boys his age? He wasn't sure whether to take it as a compliment or whether it just reinforced that he actually was strange.

"Well Harry." Ollivander said, rising from his seat. "I believe I don't need to ask you anymore questions, I think I have the perfect Pokemon in mind for you if you'll follow me."

Harry's eyebrows shot up, he had expected there to be many more questions than that.

Hagrid rose from his seat, setting what was left of what must have been his sixth or seventh sandwich back on the plate. They followed Ollivander back out the front of his house, and continued around the side, following a neat paved rock path that cut neatly through the grass.

"So how did you decide which Pokemon was best suited to me?" Harry asked Ollivander, quickening his pace to walk side by side with the man.

"Well, like I mentioned earlier, when I make my decision I look at three major things. The first is the Pokemon's type. This is important because often trainers are drawn to a specific type, especially if they are benders. So unsurprisingly with your family's airbending heritage, your answers revealed you would be best with a flying Pokemon."

"My family were airbenders?" Harry asked, quite surprised, Hagrid hadn't mentioned that.

"You didn't know? My apologies" Ollivander said. "The first question I would normally ask a new trainer is if there is bending history in their family, but I did not need to do so with you, since I already knew your family history. I still asked questions about where you would wish to live since occasionally a different bending element might pop up in a person that has lain dormant in a families' blood, so it is still a question worth asking."

Harry turned around to see Hagrid still trudging behind them, and realised they had walked a fair distance from the house already. Ollivander suddenly veered left then, following a fork in the path.

"The second thing I try to find is a personality that will best match a Pokemon I have here. My question about your hobbies and what you like to do in your spare time helped answer this. You revealed you like to look at the sky, which said to me that you value freedom more than anything else. When you said this I already had a Pokemon in mind, and this Pokemon perfectly matched my third question, which is to match a Pokemon with a trainer whose experience and knowledge are most appropriate. The Pokemon I have chosen for you then is perfect for a beginner, not too high maintenance, but enough so that you will learn and become more experienced for any future Pokemon you might have."

Harry nodded, looking towards a large dome shaped cage they were walking towards.

"Are there Pokemon in there?" Harry asked, not liking the look of the cage one bit.

Ollivander chuckled at Harry's expression. "Don't worry Harry, the dome is there for their protection from wild Pokemon, not to keep them trapped within. This is where we keep our Flying type Pokemon. I assure you, I do not trap any Pokemon here, and they are free to leave if ever they like, but any Pokemon that is here wants nothing more than to find a trainer." Ollivander said, which made Harry feel much better.

Ollivander opened the door to the wired dome, and all three stepped inside. The dome was filled with trees, and Harry could hear the flapping of birds, but still could not see any bird Pokemon through the dense brush.

Several bird Pokemon suddenly broke free of the trees and flew down towards the three of them, setting down only metres in front of them. The birds, three of them, were all clearly of different Pokemon species, and ranged from blue and red to brown and white. The three walked towards the trio, but veered towards Harry, coming right up in front of him.

Harry looked towards Ollivander for guidance, but he was simply watching the encounter with interest. Harry bent down and gave each a quick pet. When Harry stood back up, more and more Pokemon were coming out of the trees and coming towards him, until they surrounded the three of them in a semi-circle in front of them. Harry looked around at all the Pokemon, all of them making noise and speaking their names as Pokemon did.

"This is amazing!" Hagrid called out, having to yell with the noise of the Pokemon around them.

"Quite amazing, yes Hagrid. It appears the Pokemon sense something in Harry that we don't. I have only ever seen something like this once before, when I was just a child… but that is a story for another time." Ollivander said.

"Well at least the flying Pokemon seem to like me...?" Harry laughed nervously.

"Not just the Flying Pokemon Harry." Ollivander said, and turned around, spreading an arm out in front of him.

Harry turned to see what he was gesturing at, and his mouth opened slowly in surprise when he looked outside the dome. At least a hundred pokemon were gathering just outside, of all the colours of the rainbow, and made up of all shapes and sizes. Harry was amazed at what he saw, some of the Pokemon had small fires on their bodies, and one over in the back looked like a snake made of rocks, and was at least 30 feet long.

He had no idea what was going on, why the Pokemon were flocking around him, but he had never seen anything quite like it, or felt so special before.

Ollivander clapped his hands several times before calling out "Alright now, Harry is just here to get his first Pokemon, he doesn't need an audience!"

The Pokemon started to move away after a few moments of silence, with all the Pokemon around them staring at Harry. The bird Pokemon were the first to move, all flying back into the trees. They waited about a minute or so for the Pokemon outside the dome to leave until they were standing alone again.

"Pidgey!" Ollivander called out, and several small brown and white birds flew out from the trees. "Just the one in the middle." Ollivander clarified when they landed in front of them. The other two flew away, and only one small bird was left in front of them. Its back and tail feathers were brown, while the breast and face were a cream colour. It had black markings around the eyes, and its beak and feet were a pale pink. It was only small, probably only about a foot high.

Harry analysed the Pokemon intently, and felt the Tiny Bird Pokemon doing the same with him. Like Ollivander, the small Pokemon seemed to be able to look right through him with its big brown eyes.

"Harry, this is a Pidgey. More specifically, it is the Pidgey that I think will be just right for you." Ollivander said. "Pidgey, this is Harry, and if you agree, I think he would make an excellent trainer for you."

The Pidgey didn't remove its eyes from Harry for several seconds, standing completely still. "Pidgey!" it suddenly exclaimed happily, flapping its wings excitedly.

"Hold out your arm Harry." Ollivander quietly instructed him. Harry held his arm out in front of him, and Pidgey flew up into the air to land on Harry's arm. Harry lifted his other arm to pet the Pokemon's feathers.

"Well, I believe Pidgey has accepted you as her new trainer. Congratulations Harry, Pidgey is your first Pokemon!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thanks to Sailor Dying-Will who has very kindly agreed to be my beta.   
> I hope you guys enjoy!


	4. The Hogwarts Express

Chapter 4 – The Hogwarts Express

 

_Beta’d by Sailor Dying-Will_

The next month might as well have passed by in a blur. After Ollivanders, Hagrid had returned an excited Harry to the Dursleys, telling Harry he would see him at Hogwarts.

Harry was surprised to learn upon his return that the Dursleys had given Harry Dudley's second bedroom, despite his cousin's noticeable irritation. When Harry had asked why, Vernon had answered in his usual fashion, telling him not to ask questions and not to be ungrateful.

Thus Harry lay on his new bed, his Pidgey sleeping with her wings splayed out over his chest. He smiled as he looked at the small bird, and lifted his hand to softly rest it on her back.

His gaze fell on her Pokeball sitting on the bedside table. More than any of the reasons Ollivander had picked his Pidgey, Harry had heartily approved of what made his final decision. The fact was, Harry's Pidgey had an unusual character quirk; she did not like her pokeball, preferring instead to be out in the open world.

The fact that she did not like her pokeball had led to Harry deciding on her name; Skye. Hagrid had said the name was too generic, but Harry quite liked it. Since the sky had always been such a symbol of freedom for him, and the Pokemon evidently valued her own, the name seemed a perfect fit.

Unlike Skye, Harry was too excited to sleep. Tomorrow was the day he would go to Hogwarts, something he had longed for for as long as he could remember.

Despite everything he had learned in the last month from his textbooks and from playing with Skye in the back yard, he knew there was so much more to learn, and Hogwarts was the place to learn it.

Therefore to make sure he would know as much as possible on his own, Harry had read through as many and as much of his textbooks as he could manage, trying to soak up the knowledge to try to catch up to other students who might've had the advantage of growing up with Pokemon.

Most of the time in the past month though had been spent with Skye outdoors. Every day they woke up, ate breakfast and packed lunch before heading out into the neighbourhood streets, exploring and playing until night fell.

Harry and Skye had learned so much about each other on those days, and he realised that just like other people, Skye, and presumably all Pokemon, had personalities as complex as any human. The small bird was generally quite kind and joyful, but had a fierce mothering side when she thought Harry wasn't looking after himself. When he would forego meals in order to read a textbook or play with his Pokedex, she would fly down to the kitchen and come back with food clutched in her beak, and would nip at Harry's fingers until he relented and ate. Harry had never felt quite so loved before, despite the fact that she was a Pokemon.

Skye was quite protective of Harry too, which was best demonstrated when Dudley had once again tried to use his Gulpin to attack Harry at the local park. Again, Gulpin had simply refused to obey Dudley who then decided to try to use his own fists, as he sometimes did. Skye though had other ideas and furiously used her small but powerful wings to whip up a powerful wind, throwing Dudley awkwardly backwards onto the ground. She wasn't quite finished though, using her taloned feet to spray dirt into Dudley's unsuspecting face.

Dudley had quickly ran away, promising to tell Vernon exactly what Skye did. Harry had spent the rest of the day deciding what he was going to do, because now that he had Skye he was never going to give her up, even if he had to run away. He needn't have worried though, when they returned home neither Vernon nor Petunia said a word about it, and Dudley had given Harry a wide berth. He shouldn't have been surprised though, punishing Harry would have gotten in the way of their apparent plan to pretend Harry didn't exist. They didn't even bother to tell him to do his chores or go to school, and so he did neither.

It was these happy memories of the past month that finally lulled Harry off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

It was Skye that woke him the next morning, using her beak to gently nudge Harry awake.

"Morning." He yawned slowly, reaching out to brush Skye's wing with the back of his hand. For a moment Harry lay back, blissfully unaware. When he remembered what day it was, he sat up abruptly.

"What time is it?" He darted out of bed, quickly dressing in the trainer's clothes he had set aside the night before. He could hear movement from downstairs, and out the window he could see that the sun was fairly high in the sky, meaning that he was probably going to be late.

Thankfully, he had packed everything he would need the night before and had a trunk full of his clothes as well as his trainer's bag full of equipment. Harry strapped his pokeball holster belt around his waist and secured Skye's ball into its place before grabbing his bags and heading downstairs.

Harry gazed up at the clock as he walked into the kitchen. Five past ten, and the Hogwarts Express leaves at eleven sharp. He knew the Dursleys weren't fond of him, but he couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt that they didn't even bother to wake him up. If Skye hadn't woken him, would they have even bothered? Or would they have just taken Dudley and left him behind? He scoffed under his breath as he realised that asking himself that was stupid, he already knew the answer: it was 'yes, yes they would've.'

Skye must have sensed his sour mood because she nuzzled the side of his head comfortingly from her perch atop his shoulder. Vernon scoffed at Harry as he looked up from his newspaper to find Harry standing in the doorway. Petunia was kneeling beside Dudley, fixing his collar while he practically inhaled what was left of his breakfast.

As Harry went to make himself some breakfast, he was interrupted by Vernon. "Well lad, we had better go get you off to Hogwarts." he said to his son, causing Petunia to start sobbing uncontrollably and throw her arms around Dudley, who scowled before stepping away from her.

Harry rolled his eyes and followed the family out to the Sato-mobile, dragging his trunk along behind him. Skye launched herself off Harry's shoulder and soared inches away from Dudley's face, causing him to shriek loudly and jump backwards. Harry unsuccessfully tried not to laugh as Skye returned to his shoulder, making an odd huffing noise. He looked at the Pokemon oddly while she continued making the noise, and Harry laughed even harder when he realised she was laughing herself.

Harry shook his head with a smile as he lifted his trunk into the back of the car and climbed into the seat next to his cousin.

When they were all in the sato-mobile Vernon turned the key in the ignition and the engine rumbled to life. Harry's first ride in a sato-mobile was rather unexciting, and Harry watched buildings and other cars go by as he tried to control his nervous stomach. Petunia was still sobbing and talking about how sad she was to see 'Dudders' leaving and how proud she is of what a fine young man he is growing into.

They arrived at King's Cross Station at half past ten, so they still had half an hour to kill before it left. Gathering his bags from the back of the car, Harry almost had to run to catch up to the Dursleys, who were already heading inside the massive structure. The station was an overwhelmingly large building in the centre of Avem City, and the sheer amount of people going in and out of the entrance was unbelievable, even considering the number of people he had seen around Diagon Alley.

Harry followed his uncle, who clearly knew where they were going. They walked through the busy station, Harry noticing all the lit up signs that had departure times and other information. Eventually Vernon turned away from the main room, and they found themselves walking up a long tunnel, following several other families that Harry presumed must be students and family of Hogwarts students as well.

At the end of the tunnel was a brightly lit and very large rectangular room, and the first thing that Harry noticed was that the roof was abnormally low compared to where they had just been. In the centre of the room was a long prism like structure, and he initially mistook it for an unusually long train carriage, before realising that it had no wheels underneath, since it sat flat on the ground and its height reached that of the roof perfectly.

Around the room were clusters of families, all hugging and saying their goodbyes. Dudley must have seen something then, because he took off quickly without a word, and Harry watched as he approached another young boy who looked to be their own age. The boy had pale skin and white blonde hair and sharp, angular features. Dudley was clearly excited to see him, but the boy didn't even change his expressionless face while Dudley spoke to him, almost as if he hadn't even been approached by his cousin.

When he looked around, Vernon and Petunia were stalking away towards another group of people, one of whom had hair and features just like the boy Dudley had approached, only his hair was growing down the length of his back. Harry couldn't place his finger on why, but he had an automatic dislike for the group of people his uncle had approached.

He stood by himself awkwardly now, not knowing where to go or even how they were getting to Hogwarts. He had previously assumed there was a train, but since there were no tracks and no train, Harry had no idea, though he suspected it had something to do with the long carriage like object in the middle of the room.

"Harry!" a voice exclaimed from behind him. Harry turned to see a familiar bushy haired girl running towards him, Togepi held in her arms.

"Togepi!" the small Pokemon said, waving its small, stumpy arms about excitedly as she stopped in front of him.

"Hi! Hermione right?" Harry asked, and she nodded enthusiastically.

"I can't believe the day is finally here!" Hermione said blissfully. "I'm glad I found you though, I don't really know anyone that's going to Hogwarts." she admitted sheepishly.

"Me either." Harry told her, "Well ,except my cousin Dudley, but we don't really get on."

"Well that's alright then, we can stick together." she replied with a smile. "Oh you got a Pidgey!" she said, changing the subject before Harry even had a chance to answer, looking up at Skye perched on Harry's shoulder.

"Pidgey!" Skye said happily.

"Yeah, this is Skye, I got her right after you left Ollivander's that day." Harry said, reaching a hand up to pet her softly.

Hermione nodded in response and then looked around the room. "So any idea what's happening? Where do we board?" she asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders at her. "No idea." he admitted, "I've been trying to figure that out since I got here."

Harry noticed two familiar looking adults walking over towards them, and belatedly realised that they were Hermione's parents.

"Well if it isn't the young man from Ollivander's." Hermione's father said to Harry.

"Yes Sir, I'm Harry Potter." he responded with a polite smile.

"Well nice to meet you Harry." He reached out to shake his hand. "But there is no need to call me sir, just Wendell will do, and this is my wife Monica." Monica gave Harry a quick smile in greeting.

"Hermione dear, we just asked and you will be told where to go in a few minutes." she told her daughter.

Harry felt a light tap on the shoulder opposite to where Skye was sitting, and turned around to find a short plump woman behind him with fiery red hair.

"Oh Arthur I knew it was him! Lily's son!" the woman exclaimed.

Suddenly Harry was enveloped in a tight hug.

"Oh Harry it's so nice to finally see you." she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief pulled from her sleeve.

"Err, Hi?" Harry said confusedly.

"Forgive my wife Harry, she's just excited. We were very good friends with your parents. My name is Arthur and this is my wife Molly." Molly snorted into her handkerchief, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"Nice to meet you." Harry said with a smile, shaking Arthur's outstretched hand.

"Oh Harry!" Molly exclaimed loudly. "Meet our son Ron, he starts Hogwarts this year as well." Molly turned around and reached out a hand behind her, pulling a young red haired boy out in front of her.

The boy yelped and glared at his mother before turning to Harry. "Hi." he said awkwardly before turning to glare at his mother again.

It was at that point when it felt as though the entire room started to shake, and Harry looked up to realise that the roof was moving. The roof was folding itself inwards, continuing until there was no roof at all, and Harry could see the open sky.

It was clear now how they were getting to Hogwarts. Now that the roof was gone they could see what the carriage actually was. The carriage itself was just that, but it certainly wasn't for a train, as it had a massive oval shaped balloon growing out its top, and was now tied to the ground with multiple thick ropes. The balloon had the Hogwarts shield symbol stamped onto its side.

"An airship! That's so awesome!" Ron exclaimed excitedly.

Harry couldn't disagree, the prospect of being up in the sky was amazing.

"Yeah, I thought there would have to be a train, being as this is a train station" Hermione said, watching the airship with awe.

"Well it's something of an unspoken rule that we don't tell the first years what the Hogwarts express actually is." Arthur said, chuckling at the response of the three first years.

A voice announced over the speakers that the airship is now boarding, so students should say their goodbye's and board.

Ron and Hermione both hugged their parents, before three more red headed teens approached to give Molly and Arthur a quick hug as well.

"Harry, this is Fred, George and Percy." Molly introduced, gesturing at the twins noncommitingly before pointing at the clearly oldest of the children.

Harry greeted the three of them, noticing the two plump firefly like Pokemon that trailed the twins. Bizarrely, the colours of the two pokemon seemed to be almost the opposite of one another.

"Hiya Harry, good to meet ya. This is Volbeat and Illumise." one of the twins said, seemingly having noticed Harry watching the pokemon.

The group started towards the airship then, having said their goodbyes to their families.

"Wait Harry!" Molly stopped him. "Aren't you going to give your family a hug goodbye?"

"Err… I don't…" Harry awkwardly looked over towards where Vernon and Petunia were still talking with the same group of people.

A scowl appeared on Molly's face quickly as she followed Harry's gaze, but disappeared just as fast when she looked back at him. "Well nobody should go off to Hogwarts without a goodbye hug." Molly said, wrapping her arms around Harry again. This time Harry returned the hug happily, even while telling himself that he didn't know her very well, he just couldn't help it. She let go after a few moments, nudging him off towards the airship.

"Bye kids! Have fun! No mischief from you Fred, George!" She called out, her tone turning serious when she spoke to the twins, her husband waving at them all next to her.

Fred, George and Percy sped off ahead, joining their own groups of friends while Harry, Ron and Hermione walked towards the airship door.

"But what if I fall off?" A nervous voice said nearby, and Harry turned to see a young blond haired boy, short and chubby talking to an elderly woman.

"Nonsense Neville, you can't fall off. Just get on the airship!" the older woman said sternly. The boy looked very dubious about not being able to fall off, but bent down to pick up his bag anyway.

"Hey Nev." Ron said, "You can come with us if you want?"

"Thanks Ron." the boy said nervously, gingerly joining them and turning pale as he got closer to the airship.

They boarded the airship, which had a fairly simple interior of simply a long hallway, with compartments on either side for the students to sit and store their bags.

The four of them found an empty compartment pretty quickly and stored their bags in the overhead locker. Neville unsurprisingly sat as far on the inside as he could, while Harry and Ron both got window seats.

"So, I'm Neville." Neville said to the group. Hermione introduced herself to him, followed by Harry.

"Oh you're Harry Potter? That explains how mum knew you." Ron said.

"How does everyone I meet automatically know who I am?" Harry asked exasperated.

"Everyone knows the Potters. It's a pretty famous family, especially in Avem City since they were gym leaders there for generations. I know my gran and Ron's parents are fairly well known as well for being gym leaders." Neville explained.

"Yeah that and everyone knows the Potters because of how they… err, you know." Ron said, clearly losing his nerve to finish the sentence.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, having absolutely no idea what Ron was referring to.

"Well, how they… died of course." he answered. He could just make out Hermione shaking her head at Ron out of his peripheral vision.

"Tactfully put." she muttered under her breath. Harry ignored her.

"Why would dying make them famous?" Harry asked, raising in eyebrow disbelievingly.

Hermione must have decided she could be more tactful herself. "Well it's not so much that they did, but rather how it happened." she said slowly.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. "I still don't understand. Why would being in a sato-mobile accident make them famous?" he asked.

All three of them gasped in unison.

"But Harry… surely someone told you?" Hermione asked, looking him in the eye.

"Told me what?" Harry answered slowly. Surely his aunt and uncle wouldn't have lied to him about his parents. Even they weren't that cruel.

"Harry your parents didn't die in a sato-mobile accident. They were… murdered." Hermione said, her face contorted with emotion. "I'm so sorry Harry."

Skye jumped off his shoulder and onto his lap, nuzzling in close to Harry.

"I… What?"

"I don't even know the full story, just that it happened." Hermione said

"Yeah me either, my parents would never tell me." Ron said, and Neville nodded to agree with them.

"Maybe you should ask one of the Masters at Hogwarts? They might know." Neville said helpfully.

"Yeah…" Harry answered, his mind spinning at the thought of his parents being murdered. Why would his aunt and uncle lie? Why would somebody want to murder them? Especially since, according to Ron and Neville, they were well liked and respected.

At that point the airship started to rumble to life, and all thoughts of his parent's murder all but disappeared from his mind as he looked out the window to see what was happening. The workers had unhooked the ropes from the airship, which was now slowly rising off the ground.

Neville let out a little whimper and scampered closer to the centre of the carriage so he wouldn't have to see outside.

"This is so awesome!" Ron exclaimed as he and Harry watched out the window as the airship slowly lifted itself off the ground. Harry silently agreed, looking over the city in awe as the airship rose higher above Kings Cross. Harry had no idea that Avem City was so big, stretching on for miles and miles to the horizon.

Ron and Harry watched for a while, but the novelty wore off before long, and they sat back in their seats. Neville had gone a sickly white colour, and Hermione was patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.

"So what House do you think you'll be in?" Ron asked eventually, wanting to break the tension in the room. Despite knowing each other, Harry thought that Ron and Neville mustn't know each other particular well, because there was an awkwardness in the compartment that was clearly the result of nobody knowing each other.

Harry had no idea what Ron was talking about, but luckily Hermione answered him quickly enough.

"Oh I think Gryffindor might be fun, but I'm probably more of a Ravenclaw type I think. What about you Neville?"

"Oh I don't think I'm brave or smart enough for Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, so probably Hufflepuff." Neville said, still pressing himself into the middle of the carriage, but some of the colour had returned to his face now that the airship was flying smoothly through the sky.

"I think I'll be in Gryffindor, my family all went there." Ron said. "Harry?"

He was hoping that if Neville or Hermione had answered Ron's question that the question might make more sense to him, but now Harry was more confused than he had been before.

"Err, I don't know, guess we will find out." Harry shrugged, hoping his answer would make sense. It must have, because they didn't look at him funny or ask any questions about his response.

The rest of the trip went by pretty quickly, the four talking about how excited they were for Hogwarts, and all the different classes. Harry was surprised, and very happy to learn that he didn't seem too far behind on Pokemon knowledge, at least what they would learn in class, but the others certainly knew of more Pokemon than he did.

He was also happy to discover that he got along quite well with the others, something he had been quite nervous about having never spent any time with others his own age besides Dudley and the other kids from Little Whinging. In fact, other than the initial awkwardness after first boarding the airship, conversation had flowed quite smoothly between them, and Harry hoped he had made his first friends.

"I can't wait to see Hogwarts." Hermione said. "I hear it's beautiful. Did you know it used to be the Eastern Air Temple of the Air nomads?"

Ron was staring out the window, his hand propping up his face under his chin. "Mhm, fascinating." he mumbled, apparently no longer listening. Harry couldn't understand his new friend not being interested. Even not knowing what the air nomads or air temple was, the factoid sounded quite interesting to him.

Hermione paid no attention to Ron's disinterest. "Oh yes, I read it in 'Hogwarts, a History', the school actually has an incredible history." she said, about to tell them all about it.

"THERE IT IS!" Ron called out excitedly, pointing to something in the distance. Harry and Hermione darted closer to the window, pressing their faces against the thick glass. In the distance Harry could just make out three tall, thin mountains sitting side by side like pillars rising from the earth. As they got closer and closer, Harry realised that there were beautiful white buildings built around the top of each mountain, with bridges connecting the three together. The buildings all culminated in a tall tower rising directly from the peak.

Looking down, Harry realised that the three mountains were all actually situated on one small island in the middle of a lake that stretched out for miles. Despite its location in a mountain range, the three Hogwarts mountains were actually quite isolated, the peaks surrounding the entire area, but the nearest being miles away.

His curiosity must have been greater than even Neville's fear of heights, because he soon squeezed his way in between the others to get a look at the school.

The descent was quite fast, and it was only a few minutes before the airship was lowering down into a large courtyard on the lowest part of the structure on the middle island. A message came over the ship's loudspeakers asking all first year students to wait on the airship while the other students disembarked as the airship touched on the ground.

Harry realised that the other three must have been as nervous as he was now, since the conversation had come to a complete stop, and all four of them looked as though they were deep in thought. A few minutes passed and a second message let them know to disembark.

Gathering their bags, the four got off the airship and joined the large group of first years that had assembled just outside. Harry watched as the large doors to the main building opened slowly and a woman with dark orange and yellow robes emerged, and continued towards them.

When she got closer, Harry noticed that she had a tattoo on her forehead, consisting of a series of black symbols that formed the shape of an arrow that pointed downwards and continued backwards into her hairline.

"My name is Master McGonagall." she said, stopping in front of them. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, So Sorry about how long this took to update. I meant to have this done a couple of weeks ago, but a whole bunch of stuff happened and I got delayed. All that's over now though, so it really shouldn't be that long before the next update.
> 
> Also how exciting is it that Pokemon Sun and Moon have been announced! Soon I'll have a whole new generation of Pokemon to play with, so excited!
> 
> If you have any suggestions about which Pokemon you think a character should have, please let me know, since not all the Pokemon have been decided on as yet, and there is a good chance your suggestion might get used.
> 
> I also updated my profile, where I have put up any future projects that I'll be working on, so if anybody wants to read those and wants to ask any questions about them, feel free. 
> 
> The theme for this chapter (I listen to alot of movie and TV OST's and they often correlate to a scene in whatever I'm writing) is this:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Hi6-ah8D8
> 
> I just thought it suited the airship reveal and the takeoff.
> 
> Hope you Enjoy!


	5. The Sorting

Chapter 5 – The Sorting

 

“Before I take you inside to join the older years, you must first be sorted into your houses” Master McGonagall said.

Harry’s nerves perked up for what must have been the thousandth time that day, but from the expressions he saw on some of the other faces, he certainly was not alone.

Ron’s nervous voice spoke up from next to him. “E-excuse me Master, but is it true that we have to battle a wild Houndoom before we get accepted and sorted?”

There was a brief sense of silent doom as the group collectively whirled their heads to look incredulously at Ron. Harry heard one voice from the back cry out in protest, then another, then another. Soon the majority of the group, and their Pokemon, were panicking in unison, crying out about the unfairness of the situation.

Harry didn’t join the others in their hysterical outcry, instead a sensation of dread had set itself firmly in the pit of his stomach. Skye remained completely calm on his shoulder, not the least bit perturbed about the behaviour of the others, simply picking at her wings with her beak.

Harry’s eyes instinctively closed when an unusually strong gust of wind slammed into the first years, cutting off the commotion almost instantly. Skye let out an annoyed squawk towards the source of the blast.

When Harry followed Skye’s line of vision, he was surprised to see Master McGonagall standing there with her hand outstretched, the obvious source of the gust. He was even more surprised to see the strong-looking bird Pokemon next to her. It stood almost as tall as he was himself and was covered in dark grey feathers. A red-tipped crest of feathers extended over its head in front of eyes that were as serious as its trainer’s.

“Thankyou Staraptor, that will be all” McGonagall said to the giant bird, which nodded regally in response. The familiar red beam enveloped the Pokemon, calling it back to the pokeball in McGonagall’s hand.

“Much better, though I would prefer not to have to use airbending to calm down students so early in the year” she said sternly.

_‘So that was airbending!’_ Harry noted in the back of his mind.  

“There really was no need for such hubbub, and in future I would suggest that as students of Hogwarts you hold yourself to higher standards of behaviour” she continued, her gaze slowly gliding along the assemblage in front of her.

Harry lowered his head as the Master’s gaze passed over him. It was strange, normally he wouldn’t have felt guilty, especially as he hadn’t even joined in on the uproar, but Master McGonagall’s seemingly magical stare had made him feel like he ought to be sorry anyway.

“Now, Mr. Weasley I presume?” she asked Ron when she had finished her scrutinising stare, and Harry vaguely saw his friend nod in response. “I thought so” she said nodding firmly. “You shouldn’t believe everything your brothers tell you. No you absolutely do not have to battle any Pokemon to be accepted. All of you are already enrolled at Hogwarts, and you do not to prove yourself to this school to remain here, is that quite understood?” she stated in a strict voice.

Harry nodded along with the rest of his year group. He realised with amazement that she could change her tone from scarily serious to warm and welcoming in a single moment.

“As I was saying then, you must be sorted into your houses. For those who do not know, there are four different houses at Hogwarts, and while you are here your house will be like your family. Each house has a rich history and tradition, and each house has produced many fine trainers and benders alike.

You are sorted into your house because you most personify what valued each house embodies. For example, Gryffindor house, of which I am head, accepts those with a courageous, chivalrous or daring nature. Ravenclaw house accepts those who exemplify a desire for intelligence and learning. Hufflepuff is for the loyal, hard-working and fair minded, while those sorted into Slytherin have an inclination towards cunning, resourcefulness and ambition. Of course, just because you are say, chosen for Gryffindor, that does not mean you cannot have a craving for knowledge, it simply means that your Gryffindor traits are stronger than your Ravenclaw.

Now then, when we go inside, you will walk through the hall in an orderly fashion, and gather at the front near the teacher’s desk. When I call your name, you will sit in the stool, and Master Dumbledore’s Lucario will read your aura and decide your house. Lucario is a very special Pokemon, able to read your personality and commune with humans through their minds. He will not speak to you in words, but sometimes he will try to communicate with images or feelings, so do not be alarmed if you suddenly see strange images in your head.

If you would please follow me inside, we can begin the sorting ceremony.” At once she turned smoothly around and stalked inside, and Harry couldn’t help but note the gracefulness with which she moved.  

The large double doors opened in front of her, and they entered a large hallway that extended to their left and right. In front of them were another set of gargantuan double doors, these already open, and Harry could just make out two long tables with the older students sitting on either side.

As they entered the long room, he realised that there were actually four tables that ran most of the length of the hall. _Four tables for four houses_ he realised was probably the case.

At the front of the hall on a slightly higher platform ran a fifth table that overlooked the others, behind which sat the teachers, and Harry could see Master Dumbledore in the centre, smiling widely as the first years marched through the centre. Towards the very left of the table sat Hagrid, who smiled kindly and waved as he made eye contact with Harry.

They gathered at the front of the hall near the stool that Master McGonagall had mentioned. Harry saw her give a small nod to Master Dumbledore, who raised his hand and gave a small flick of his wrist. The white energy from his pokeball appeared, leaving a mostly blue and black coloured Pokémon when the energy dissipated. The Pokemon had pointed metallic cones on the back of its hand, but it was the eyes that Harry found most interesting. In appearance they were quite typical, but he could see what he could only describe as a wisdom in them that gave away his unique status.

McGonagall was wasting no time, very quickly after Lucario was released, she called out the first name on her list. “Hannah Abbott!”

The girl made her way slowly up to the stool and sat down nervously, facing the other students. Lucario lifted its hands, or paws as they looked more like, and held them on either side of the girl’s head. After a few seconds it pointed towards the table on the middle left.

“Hufflepuff!” McGonagall called out, and the long table to which Lucario had pointed applauded the girl as McGonagall pointed her towards her new house.

“Ernie MacMillan!” she called the next name from her list. The boy was sent to Hufflepuff as well, with a girl named Lavender Brown becoming the first Gryffindor and another boy Terry Boot the first Ravenclaw.

“Dudley Dursley” his cousins name rang out across the room. Harry’s face instinctively scrunched up. Between meeting Ron, Neville and Hermione and the exciting airship trip, Harry had almost been able to forget that Dudley would be here as well.

Dudley made his way up to the stool, but he had barely lowered himself into the seat before Lucario was pointing towards the table on the far right.

“Slytherin!” McGonagall called out. Dudley looked very pleased with this decision as he made his way over to the Slytherin table.

“Of course” Ron whispered quietly beside him as the next name was called out.

“What?” Harry asked him quietly.

“Of course a jerk like Dursley would be in Slytherin, its where all the jerks go”. He stated before returning his attention to the sorting ceremony. _How does Ron know Dudley? Better not tell him we’re related_ Harry thought.

Hermione and Neville were the next to be sorted, both being chosen for Gryffindor, although their sorting took a little more time than some of the others. Ron expressed surprise at Neville’s sorting, believing him destined for Hufflepuff.

“Draco Malfoy!” Harry recognised the blonde as the boy Dudley had approached at King’s Cross station as he made his way up to be sorted. It had been about half a minute sitting in the stool before Draco had gone red in the face. A few seconds later he began shaking his head vehemently, and Lucario finally pointed towards the Slytherin table. For a second Harry was confused, before he remembered McGonagall warning them that Lucario might try to communicate with them.  

Ron then turned to Harry, presumably to talk about Malfoy’s odd sorting, but McGonagall called out his name before he could get the words out.

Ron apprehensively sat down on the stool before the Lucario examined him. It was only a few seconds before the Pokémon pointed and McGonagall announced he was a Gryffindor. Again the Gryffindor table erupted into applause, though Harry swore he could hear his twin brothers cheering louder than the lot of them together.

“Harry Potter!” McGonagall called, giving him an encouraging smile as he slowly approached the stool. As he got closer, he heard several whispering conversations break out around the hall. “Quiet please!” McGonagall’s stern voice rang out, ceasing all noise immediately.

Harry slowly lowered himself onto the stool, and could feel Lucario’s soft, shortly furred paws press gently into his temples. Almost immediately though, he removed them, and slowly moved around to stand in front of him. Harry was suddenly anxious about the Pokemon’s presence; it had not done this to any of the other first years.

Harry found himself looking directly into Lucario’s amber coloured eyes. Lucario gave a small but perceptible nod towards him. Abruptly the hall was gone, and Harry and Lucario were alone in a completely white space.

“What’s going on?” Harry said fearfully. Lucario rested a hand comfortingly on his shoulder, and Harry thought again back to McGonagall’s words about Lucario communicating sometimes. He willed himself to calm down, and started to slow his breathing. When his heartbeat had slowed to normal, Lucario pointed out in front of them, and Harry looked to see four different versions of himself standing side by side.

Two of the Harry’s in front of him were slightly transparent, and one of them was busy reading a thick book while the other wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

Harry thought back to earlier when McGonagall had told them of the four houses. Ravenclaw for those who liked learning.

_So the one with the book is me if I was in Ravenclaw_. _The other me is being friendly; Hufflepuff maybe?_

He decided to ask. “Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?” Harry motioned towards the two transparent figures.

Lucario nodded quickly at him, then motioned towards the other two Harry’s. These two were not transparent at all, and looked just as real as he did. The first Harry stood proud and regal, the way he might expect a noble knight to stand. The second was dressed in fancy clothes, and stood apart from the others on an upraised dais, looking down his nose at them.

Despite his disgust at what was obviously the Slytherin version of himself standing above the others, he couldn’t deny that he felt a pull towards it, thinking of how good it would be to achieve something great and be able to rub Vernon and Dudley’s faces in it.

Quickly he snapped himself out the thought, remembering his cousin being in that house, and of Ron’s comments about Slytherin. When he thought of Ron, he thought of his other new friends in Hermione and Neville, and how they were sorted into Gryffindor.

“So these are Gryffindor and Slytherin?” he asked Lucario, who nodded. “Then are you saying I could be in any of the houses?” Another nod. “But probably more Gryffindor or Slytherin?” A third nod. “But which one?” he asked slowly.  

Lucario looked at him seriously for a moment, then raised its hand and pointed at the Slytherin Harry.

For a moment Harry panicked, thinking he had already been sorted. “No please, not Slytherin, what about Gryffindor, I think I belong in Gryffindor more.” Harry pleaded. He didn’t even really believe his own words, but he didn’t want to accept that he would have to go to Slytherin if he didn’t want to.

Lucario approached him and looked into his eyes again. Just as abruptly as they had left, they were once again in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, in the exact same position, and Harry realised they had never actually left. He didn’t even see Lucario point, just heard Master McGonagall call out Gryffindor.

Lucario still stood in front of him, and Harry mouthed a thank-you in his direction, earning a curt nod from the distinctive creature, before it moved once again behind the stool.

 

* * *

 

 

After the sorting ceremony had ended, Master Dumbledore had announced the beginning of the feast after congratulating all the first years on being sorted into their new houses. A number of men and women all dressed in robes of red, orange and yellow had served food along all of the tables, and Harry was busy filling his stomach with the rest of his new house.

“Why’d your sorting take so long?” Ron asked with a mouth stuffed full of chicken. A few of the other students nearby looked up from their meals to listen in.

“I’m not really sure, I guess Lucario just didn’t know where to put me?” Harry said non-committedly with a wave of his hand. The last thing he needed to reveal to his new friends was that he had almost been a Slytherin.

Ron looked as though he was about to ask more, but fortunately Hermione cut in. “Yes, Lucario wasn’t sure if I should have been in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw I think, is that what happened to you Harry? You _were_ up there for an awfully long time” Hermione said.

“Err, yeah, that’s exactly what happened, couldn’t decide between Gryffindor or … Hufflepuff” he lied.

“Well, glad you’re here with us mate, Gryffindor’s a laugh, you’re gonna love it” one of the twins said.

“So are we allowed to have our Pokémon out? I think my Turtwig would probably be hungry” Neville asked anxiously, looking at Skye who was eating from a bowl of Pokémon food which had been provided with the rest of the feast. Harry felt a little pang of guilt at this question, he hadn’t even considered that Skye might not even be allowed out of her pokeball, especially since she had no interest in doing so, and he definitely didn’t want to make her.

“Of course you can! There isn’t anywhere at Hogwarts where you won’t be allowed to have your Pokémon free, that’s why the rooms were built so big” Percy said pompously.

“Actually” Hermione interrupted, “I read in Hogwarts a History that the rooms were already that big when Hogwarts was just the Eastern Air Temple, only the rooms that have been built since were built large for the Pokémon.”

Percy gave her a blank look and was seemingly off put by her correction. “Maybe Lucario got it wrong and you should have been in Ravenclaw after all” he huffed and turned away towards the other end of the Gryffindor table.

“Don’t worry about Percy, he’s always been a bit of a git” one of the twins said to Hermione who had gone red with embarrassment at Percy’s rude comment.  

Neville reached down to his belt to release his Pokémon, which appeared in his lap. It was only fairly small, only about the same height as Skye, but was quite a bit more mass. It was shaped like a turtle, and was mostly green, with its feet, eyes and lower jaw all being a dull yellow. Its body was covered with a brown shell, and it had a small seedling growing atop its head.

“Turtwig” the creature announced enthusiastically, jumping up on its hind legs to lick Neville’s face. Neville smiled and set aside a small plate of Pokémon food for it to eat.

Harry realised he was staring, and he hadn’t even noticed that Ron had also released his Pokemon, which looked like a brown worm, with a sharp stinger in the centre of its head. It had a red nose and rows of red feet underneath it.

“Aren’t you going to feed your Pokemon?” Harry asked the twins curiously, wanting to see more Pokemon that he hadn’t seen before.

“Nah, we will feed all of them later. Most students who have more than one Pokémon don’t feed them in the hall with everyone else, too much of a hassle” One twin said.

“Besides,” the other continued, “I think Master McGonagall would pitch a fit if she saw Volbeat and Illumise out of their pokeballs in here, last time they caused a food fight that had the Hall shut down for two full days” he said with a fond smile, as if this were one of his happiest memories.

A light ringing sound from the teacher’s desk signalled that it was time for Dumbledore’s address, and the students immediately became silent.

“Now that our stomachs have been satisfied, and a great thankyou we owe the air acolytes for that as always” Dumbledore began a small applause, which the school this time happily joined.  

“I would very much like to welcome all of our new students, and to our returning students, welcome back! Before I send you off to your dormitories for some well needed rest, there are a few announcements I would like to make.”

“Firstly, the elective ‘social studies’ now has a new teacher, and I would like to introduce all of you to Professor Charity Burbage, and I’m sure you will join me in wishing her well during her time here at Hogwarts.”

Professor Burbage rose from her chair quickly to give a quick wave to the students in the hall, then quickly sat back down, her face a bright red.

“The former social studies teacher, Master Quirrell, has thus elected to take on the mantle of Battle Class, and we wish him all the best as well.” Dumbledore began a small applause, which the students half-heartedly joined as Master Quirrell, a man with pale skin and wearing a purple turban that covered almost his entire head, rose from his seat as Professor Burbage had done.

“I would also like to remind all students, new and old, that the Forest Island on the lake below is absolutely forbidden to _all_ students unaccompanied by a teacher.

“I do believe that is all I have to say, so I will end tonight’s welcome feast by wishing all students and their Pokémon the best of luck in their studies this year, to have fun and train hard.”

 

* * *

 

 

“First year students this way please!” Master McGonagall called back to them as she walked briskly along the wide corridors of Hogwarts.

After the feast, the first years had been told to remain behind for a second time while the older students made their way back to their houses. Apparently this was so that their head of house, in Gryffindor’s case, Master McGonagall, could lead them to their house themselves.

“So Harry, you’re the son of _the_ Potter’s right?” the first year who had introduced himself as Seamus a few minutes earlier asked.

“ _The_ Potters?” Harry asked, although he was fairly sure he knew what Seamus was really asking, he just had no idea what to tell him.

“Yeah, you know, the gym leaders in Avem city?” he asked Harry, a few of the other new Gryffindor’s noticeably quieting in order to listen in.

“Oh. Yeah, they were the gym leaders” Harry answered, hoping that was the last Seamus would ask.

“Then do you know? I mean what happened that night? Mum never would tell me” he said.

“Before today I thought they had died in a Sato-Mobile accident, so no” Harry said shortly.

“But-“ Seamus began before he got cut off.

“Enough chatter” Master McGonagall said “You’re supposed to be paying attention so you know how to get to the main hall for breakfast.” Her stern demeanour was enough to stop the conversation until they made it to the Gryffindor common room, situated at the top of the eastern part of the air temple.  

They followed the airbending master inside a large circular room, on each side of which were seven archways. The common room itself was much like the living room of any house, filled with comfortable chairs and lounges, along with a few desks on one side of the room. There was a large TV on one side of the room.

“This is the Gryffindor common room. While at Hogwarts this rooms will act as your home away from home. As you can see, there is ample space to relax, study and socialise. The room is quite big enough to hold all but the largest of Pokemon, so if you have anything larger than about 15 feet tall, please utilise common sense and do not release it in here. You should also be courteous when releasing your Pokemon in here. If every Gryffindor student was to release their Pokemon all at once, I imagine it would become rather cramped and uncomfortable.”

McGonagall motioned to the archways around the room. “These doors lead upstairs and downstairs to the dormitories for different years. Boys, on your right, girls, your left. Each year you will move to the next door, which will take you to a higher dorm. The seventh years thus occupy the dormitories at the highest part of Gryffindor tower.”

“Breakfast is at eight every morning, but on weekends runs from seven until ten for those who like to sleep in. Tomorrow morning at breakfast you will all receive your timetables and begin your classes. For now though you should all head to your dormitories where your belongings are waiting for you. Have a good nights sleep” McGonagall said in a brisk manner, as though reading off a checklist.  

“Oh, and welcome to Gryffindor” she said in an altogether warmer tone.

The boys and girls both began to head to their new dorms when Master McGonagall spoke again.

“Mr Potter, could I have a moment please?” she asked, looking Harry directly in the eye. Harry shot Ron a concerned look, but the red head only shrugged his shoulders and continued down towards the dormitory.

Master McGonagall motioned for Harry to sit down in one of the cushy looking sofa chairs in front of the fire while she sat opposite him.

“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see that your first partner is a flying type Pokemon” she said, eyeing Skye who remained perched in Harry’s shoulder, absentmindedly picking at her feathers. Harry smiled at the airbending master, unsure of what she wanted from him.

“May I?” she asked, holding an arm out towards Skye.

He nodded uncertainly. “Her name is Skye” he said, causing the bird Pokemon to look up at him, then towards McGonagall. Immediately Skye seemed to understand what was going on as she flew smoothly over to land on McGonagall’s outstretched arm.

She examined Skye for a few moments, and ran a finger softly under her beak. Harry was surprised; Skye had yet to let anybody touch her besides Harry, nor had she shown any interest in letting anyone, yet she seemed to like McGonagall well enough for having only just met her.

The confusion must have shown on his face, because McGonagall spoke up. “She’s not usually this social I take it?” she asked. Harry shook his head. “Pokemon are said to be just as smart as any person, and in my opinion, are actually far more intelligent. Skye would’ve known if I’d bore her any ill will. Not to mention I’ve been around flying types almost my entire life” she explained. Skye suddenly abandoned McGonagall’s arm and soared back over to Harry’s shoulder.

“It’s obvious that there is a high level of trust between the two of you. I’m pleased” she said, and Harry couldn’t mistake the warm smile that had appeared on her face.

“But I’ve gotten off topic before even getting on topic. Actually I wanted to speak to you about your parents.”

Harry’s eyes widened. Had Master McGonagall called him over specifically to talk to him about his parents? He had spent years trying to convince his aunt and uncle to tell him about them, and in all that time all he had discovered was that they had died in a Sato-Mobile accident; and now even that wasn’t true. In the past month he had heard Hagrid and a few others say good things about them, but these tiny factoids were not nearly enough to form an accurate picture in his mind about who they were. Now someone was willingly offering to talk about his parents with him, and it meant the world to him.

“My parents?” Harry asked in a choked voice.

She smiled at him again. “Hagrid told me that you didn’t know very much about them” she said. “Perhaps I should start with how I met them?” she asked.

Harry nodded, trying to stop the tears that were forming in the corner of his eyes.

McGonagall began to tell him about his parents. She told him how they were sorted into Gryffindor, of his father’s mischievous but well-meaning nature, and his mother’s overwhelming kindness and sweetness. She told him how James was a spectacularly gifted trainer and later, a talented airbender. Apparently his mother was just as talented a trainer, and had aspirations to be a Pokemon Coordinator, not that he had any idea what that was.

Despite his excitement to finally learn what his parents were like, he couldn’t help but wonder why someone would want to murder them? If they were such good people, why would somebody want to end their lives?

“What happened to them Master? I don’t understand why somebody would want to… kill them.” Harry asked reluctantly.

McGonagall hesitated, her eyes lowering to the ground.

“I suppose you need to know” she sighed. “But Harry I warn you, nobody knows the full story of what happened, and I can only tell you what I know.”

Harry nodded slowly. Even if she didn’t know it all, he could at least find out what she did know.

“In Little Whinging, despite their… odd feelings about Pokemon, did they ever mention a man by the name of Voldemort?” she asked.

Harry shook his head slowly.

“Well, Voldemort, or Tom Riddle as he was born, was the last Avatar” she said.

“Wha-“ Harry began to ask what the avatar was, but stopped when McGonagall nodded and held a single finger up in front of her.

“I apologise Harry, its easy to forget you did not grow up hearing these stories. The avatar is the one person in the world who can bend all of the elements. They are meant as the bridge between people and Pokemon, and it is their duty to master all of the elements and keep balance and peace in the world. When the Avatar dies, their Avatar spirit is born into another person, and the cycle continues. For thousands of years, the avatars kept peace in the world and were the embodiment of light even in the darkest times, at least it was so until Tom Riddle was born as the Avatar.

When he had mastered the elements, he announced that the world was not in balance, and that it was his job as the Avatar to restore it. He said this because he foolishly believed that only element benders were worthy to train Pokemon, that Pokemon themselves, as spirits who have taken on mortal form, decided who was worthy to be their partners and seeing as they only chose gave the gift of bending to some, their choice was obvious. Many believed him simply because he was the Avatar, others believed it because they were from long lines of benders, and believed themselves superior than those who could not.

However, those who had any sense knew that what the Avatar believed was false, that anybody is worthy to be a Pokemon trainer, that it is the Pokemon themselves that decide who they will partner with, and just because not everybody can bend, doesn’t mean they are not worthy, after all, bending is something you are born with, not given. At first, the two sides of the argument did just that, argue. It wasn’t long though before the Avatar showed his true, dark self. He destroyed Anglia’s government building in Avem city, killing hundreds inside. He announced that if the government would not change the laws, he would become the government. He took on the moniker Lord Voldemort, and it was clear to those who were not his followers that he was simply obsessed with power.

His destruction of the government buildings was the first act in a war that lasted years. On one side was Voldemort and his followers, on the other, those who stood against him led by Master Dumbledore, the only bender strong enough to defy him.

Your parents were two of Voldemort’s biggest rivals. It was not just that they were phenomenal trainers, or that your father was an extraordinary airbender, it was the fact that they led the Avem City gym that made them so threatening.

Gym leaders are considered something like community leaders, and being the gym leader in Anglia’s capital city gave them a voice with the entire nation. Being as brave and good as they were, they used this voice to denounce Voldemort, and it was this courageous act that set them directly in his sights.

So one night, Voldemort decided to end their threat to him. He walked right into their gym in Avem City. This was the last time he was seen alive, along with Lily and James.”

“Wait. So did my parents defeat him? What happened?” Harry asked desperately.

“Unfortunately Harry, nobody really knows for sure what happened inside that gym. Many believe that yes, James and Lily did defeat him. Others believe that Voldemort’s own Avatar spirit rose up against him, but his body bore no wounds, so every theory is nothing more than that. Simply put Harry, it is a mystery that has never, and likely will never, be solved.”

Harry was completely overwhelmed. His parents were heroes.

“It’s quite late now Harry, and I don’t want to overload you before the term has even started” McGonagall said, shifting quickly back into her strict teacher persona. “Best be off to bed now.”

Harry didn’t know what to say to her. She had given him something nobody else had ever bothered to. There were no words, so he simply got up and wrapped his arms around her.

“What? Oh!” she said, startled by his actions, before she returned the hug.

Harry pulled back and wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve. McGonagall gave him another smile.

“Off to bed now Harry, big day tomorrow. Sleep well, you too Skye” she said.

 


	6. Classes

Chapter 6 – Classes

 

Harry’s eyes shot open when he felt something sharp collide forcefully with his forehead. He darted up, looking for the source. Not being able to see anything inside the closed curtains of his soft four poster bed, he laid back with a groan, rubbing his forehead tenderly. Outside of the curtains Harry could hear people moving around in the dormitory and talking in hushed tones, meaning it was probably morning. Harry closed his eyes again, wishing that it was still the middle of the night – he had always liked his sleep.

Another sharp pain struck on his head, but when he shot up this time, he could hear rasping breaths from behind him. Harry turned to see Skye standing behind his pillow, her breath wheezing out of her in quick gasps. Harry was initially panicked, thinking that she was struggling to breathe. On closer inspection though, he realised that she was actually laughing at him, the obvious culprit behind waking up so suddenly.  

Harry frowned at her, only causing the bird Pokemon to laugh harder. Harry turned around and shook his head, unable to stop the smile flittering across his face.

“I guess that’s my cue to get up” Harry said annoyed, stretching his arms out over his head. Skye quickly jumped with one flap of her wings and landed on Harry’s shoulder, nuzzling against the side of his face.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up” Harry muttered, guessing it was her way of apology for waking him. He reached up and gave her beak a few quick pats so she knew he wasn’t too annoyed.

Opening the curtains, Harry rose from the bed and reached for his bag.

“Morning mate, I was just about to wake you” Ron’s voice sounded from the end of his bed.

Harry looked towards the red head, already dressed and ready, and gave him a sleepy smile. “Morning. Skye already woke me. Guess I was more tired than I thought from the trip yesterday” Harry said as he pulled on a pair of trainer pants.

Ron nodded. “Yeah I know what you mean, I wanted to wait up for you last night, but I was down pretty much as soon as my head hit the pillow” he said.

Harry nodded as he finished tying his shoes. “Yeah, about that. What did she want to talk to you for?” Neville asked, walking over to stand next to Ron. Seamus and Dean stopped what they were doing to listen in from the other side of the room.  

Harry had known about his parent’s murder for less than a day, and he was already getting sick of the questions about it.

“She just wanted to tell me she knew my parents, thought I might want to know a bit more about them” Harry answered, walking towards the door to the staircase, Skye already flying out the door and up the stairs.

Ron and Neville jogged to catch up to him, following him up to the common room, where Hermione was waiting for them.

“ _There_ you are! I was beginning to think you’d never get out of bed” Hermione said dramatically. “Can you believe we start classes today? I just can’t wait! What do you want to be first?” she continued excitedly, not even waiting for their answer.

“Battle class” Ron said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

“Not for me, I’m looking forward to Habitat class” Neville said.

Harry was suddenly so much more excited. Finally, they were about to have their first classes! “I just can’t wait for any of it!” he said. “Let’s go already!” he said, breaking off into a run out of the common room, the other three following behind.

 

* * *

 

 

“First years over here please!” Master McGonagall called out once everybody had finished eating breakfast. It was about five minutes before the first class was to start, so the hall was almost empty for all except for the first years and McGonagall.

“Please take one of these timetables and pass them on” she asked, handing a large pile of inked paper to the girl closest to her.

McGonagall waited at the front of the hall while the timetables made their way around the room.

“As you can see” she said once she was sure everybody had one, “After breakfast every day you will have class from nine until ten fifty, followed by a second class from eleven until twelve fifty. You will then be back here for lunch until one fifty, then a final class from two until three fifty. From three fifty until six are bending classes.” McGonagall explained matter of factly.

“However” she raised a finger. “These classes are _not_ free periods for non-benders and those whose bending has not yet been given by Pokemon. You are expected to continue your studies on your own during this time. Despite the guidance we can give you, Pokemon training is an independent endeavour. We cannot, and will not, train your Pokemon for you, so bending classes are a most opportune time in which to strengthen the bond between you and your Pokemon.”

“Now then, your first class is actually with me, so if you will follow me, I’ll take you to my classroom” she said. As soon as she had finished speaking, she stalked quickly down the middle of the hall. She moved so quickly that most have the students had to scramble to their feet and jog in order to match her pace.

Walking Hogwarts in the day was utterly different from what it had been the night before. As soon as they walked outside, Harry could see the mountains that surrounded them on every side. They walked across the bridge that led from the middle island of the temple to the eastern side where McGonagall’s classroom was located. From the bridge they were able to see the entire area. Below them was the lakefront shore, where the lake stretched for miles around them. The view was breathtaking, and most of the first years slowed down to take it all in, quickly hastening when they realised McGonagall was certainly not slowing down to sightsee.

Finally, they made it to the classroom, though it was not like any classroom Harry had ever seen. The ceiling was incredibly high compared to any normal classroom, and held much more space than any he had been taught in in Little Whinging. On one side of the room was a typical classroom setup, a basic whiteboard and a number of desks setup. On the other side was a totally bare space.

McGonagall walked them over to the classroom side and had them sit at the desks, Harry choosing a seat next to Ron.

“In my classes we will talk about Pokemon natures and the bond between a trainer and their Pokemon” McGonagall said once they were all seated, not wasting any time in her usual brisk manner.  

“You might be wondering what I mean when I talk about Pokemon nature. Well, before I explain, I want to preface by saying that Pokemon are incredible creatures, said to be as intelligent as any human, and in my opinion, are more intelligent still. The reason I am saying this before we do anything else in this classroom is so you understand that you should not be treating your Pokemon as mere animals. Instead they are your partners, and though you are the trainer and the guide, you are not greater than they, nor they greater than you. The more you think of yourself and your Pokemon as one body of equals, the better the trainer you will be.” The room listened to the airbending master with enraptured attention.

“Now then, does anybody know what I mean when I refer to Pokemon nature?” McGonagall asked, her eyes scanning over the class. Hermione’s hand shot into the air.

“A Pokemon’s nature is another way of referring about its personality” Hermione answered.

“That is the basic answer Miss Granger yes, ten points to Gryffindor” she said to Hermione with a smile. “As I said before, Pokemon are very intelligent creatures. It stands to reason then, that if no one of us has the same personality, no Pokemon does either. In this class we will study how to better understand both your own Pokemon and of Pokemon in general, and we will attempt to foster and strengthen the bond between trainer and Pokemon” she explained.

“But Master, how does understanding your Pokemon’s personality help you be a better trainer?” A Hufflepuff girl, Hannah, Harry thought her name was, asked.

“An excellent question Miss Abbott, but you might find it to be the most useful knowledge you can possess as a trainer. Take your Oddish for example, which appears to me to be a little shy” she motioned towards the small dark blue Pokemon that was sitting in front of Hannah. The little Pokemon pulled the leaves from its head down over its face in an attempt to hide from everybody’s now staring eyes.

“Say you were in a battle, and Oddish here was frightened to face the other Pokemon in battle. You might feel encouraged to send her out and simply bark orders, not that I am saying you _would_ do so of course” she noted.

“What would happen is that Oddish would resent the treatment, and if she performed at all, it would be at a much lower standard than what she is able, and you would more than likely lose. So instead you might encourage Oddish and state your belief in her, and try to boost her self-confidence.”

“That same strategy might not work for say, a confident Pokemon like Mr Malfoy’s Sneasel” McGonagall continued, now gesturing towards a small dark blue Pokemon sitting on the desk in front of the platinum haired Draco. The Sneasel wasn’t very big, like the majority of the first year’s Pokemon, had three red tail feathers, as well as another single red feather in place of its left ear. Instead of hands it had long, sharp claws.

“Sneasel over here might be irritated by Mr Malfoy stating his belief that he can win the battle, since a confident Pokemon like himself would already believe it anyway, therefore he might be better to take the approach of simply ordering him into battle” she explained. Draco’s Sneasel held its head high in the air and puffed his chest out.

“So, you see understanding your Pokemon can be of vital importance, and not just in battle, but in any communication between you and your Pokemon. It can also be just as important to understand an opposing trainer’s Pokemon, or, you’ll find in Master Sprout’s classes that it is sometimes necessary to understand a wild Pokemon, perhaps to easier capture it, or perhaps even so you know you shouldn’t catch it.”

“I once knew a trainer with an Alakazam who would mind read the opposing Pokemon in an attempt to understand it. The trainer and Alakazam would then use this knowledge to defeat their opponents by using it against them. For example, they might goad a Pokemon with an aggressive personality into making an overly aggressive move. In fact, I daresay you have all heard of this trainer, since he once won the Sinnoh league and became a member of the elite four several years ago, Lucian” she said.

Harry had never heard the name Lucian, or heard of the elite four or the Sinnoh League, but from the looks on people faces he was guessing they were a pretty big deal.  

“Now then, let’s get to work shall we?” McGonagall said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

 

* * *

 

 

“That was awesome!” Ron said as they walked out of McGonagall’s classroom. They were all practically giddy with excitement after how great their first class was.

“I know! Who would have thought learning about Pokemon personalities could be so interesting!” Hermione exclaimed as they wandered through the hallways.

“It was great, But I still can’t wait until habitat class though, it’s perfect for someone who wants to be a ranger” Neville said.

Someone bumped into Harry from behind, almost knocking him over. “You Longbottom? As if someone as pathetic as _you_ could ever be a ranger” Dudley said as he walked straight through the middle of them. A few of the other Slytherins laughing as they followed.  

“Why don’t you shut up _‘Dudders’”_ Harry said mockingly, glaring at his cousin. Dudley went beet red at the embarrassing nickname Petunia had come up with. Harry might have had to put up with Dudley when he was back home, but here there was no Vernon to defend him, and he wasn’t about to let Dudley bully the first friends he had ever had.

“Why don’t you make me Potter” Dudley said, turning around and reaching for his pokeball. Skye immediately launched off his shoulder and moved in front of Harry, screeching loudly and threateningly. She flew in place in between the two of them, daring Dudley to make a move. Dudley screwed up his face.

“Keep that psycho bird out of my face Potter” he said before turning away. Skye flew back onto Harry’s shoulder.

“Thanks Harry, and Skye” Neville said softly with his head down.

“No problem, I wouldn’t listen to Dudley if I were you, he’s just a jerk” Harry said, reaching up to pat Skye.

“Good thing Skye was already out of her pokeball to get him to back off, otherwise I think you’d have been in a battle on your first day” Hermione said.

“Actually Skye never goes into her pokeball” Harry responded as they kept moving, reaching the stairs that would, according to Master McGonagall, take them down into the mountain where Master Sprout taught.

“Really? Why not?” Ron asked.

“She doesn’t like it, never has. Actually it’s one of the reasons Mr. Ollivander chose her for me” Harry explained.

Before they could respond, all four were distract by the large cave they found themselves in at the bottom of the stairs. Harry had never been in a cave before, but he didn’t think that they were supposed to look like this. The floor of the cave was covered with thick green grass and there were innumerable trees growing out of the rocky ground and flowers sprouting everywhere. In fact, if it weren’t for the stalactites on the ceiling, and the fact that there was a ceiling at all, Harry would have thought for sure he was outside in an incredibly well cared for garden.

“How is this possible?” Hermione breathed out, looking around with bewilderment.

“Plantbending” Neville answered with a knowing smile. “Master Sprout is one of the best plantbenders around, according to Gran anyway, they went to Hogwarts together. Actually they even had the same Plantbending master, though Gran says she was never as good as Master Sprout.”

The four walked through an opening in the trees where they found themselves in the centre a classroom environment of desks and chairs, although instead of being crafted, they looked instead like they had been carved out of tree trunks. Some of the chairs even had flowers growing out the back of them.

Just in front of the desks was a blackboard, or what Harry assumed was _supposed_ to be a blackboard, since instead it was just the face of an unusually thick tree trunk. Next to the _‘blackboard’_ stood Master Sprout. She was rather plump and had short grey hair, and wore a cheerful smile on her face.

“Please sit down” she said, smiling brightly as the first year group gathered behind the desks.

Once they were seated, Harry this time sitting next to Hermione, she started to speak again. “Welcome to Habitat class. I am Master Sprout. If you have older siblings, or if someone else has been telling you about Hogwarts, you might be wondering why I called it habitat class rather than capture class, which it is more commonly referred. I call it habitat class because while I will teach you the proper and most effect methods to capture Pokemon, the most important thing I can teach you is _which_ Pokemon to capture, and how to do it without disrupting their ecosystem.”

Harry already didn’t like the sound of this class. It sounded interesting of course, but he still hated the idea of Pokemon being taken from their homes. Nervously, he rose his hand. Professor Sprout nodded happily at him, motioning for him to speak.

“Erm, Master, what if you don’t want to catch Pokemon?” he asked quietly. Harry heard a few laughs from behind him, causing him to go red with embarrassment.

“What a freak! Why wouldn’t you want to catch Pokemon?” he heard Dudley call out through laughter. Skye let out another threatening screech at him.

“Twenty points from Slytherin! We do not tolerate bullying of any kind at Hogwarts” Master Sprout scowled at him before turning back to Harry. The laughing stopped immediately.

“Well won’t force you to go out and capture Pokemon of course, but can I ask why you would not want to? Most first years can’t wait until the end of year trip for the opportunity” she said.

“It’s not that I don’t want more Pokemon or anything, I just don’t like the idea of taking one from its home and keeping it in a pokeball” he explained softly.

A look of understanding crossed her face. “Ahh, I see, you don’t like pokeballs then?” she asked. Harry shook his head. “Well then hopefully I can clear up any misgivings. But it is an important question Mr Potter, and it says a great deal about your character that you thought to bring it up.”

“As you may know class, over a hundred years ago during the time of Avatar Korra, a large number of spirits opted to give up their immortality and take on a mortal life. Thus Pokemon were born. What you may not know however, is that there was a man by the name of Iknik Blackstone Varrick who had studied spirit energy before Pokemon were even around. When they started to appear however, and it became obvious that Pokemon were now necessary for bending, he came up with the pokeball design using his knowledge of spirit energy.”

“While the pokeball may look small and cramped from the outside, on the inside it actually is not at all. Instead the red beam that that collects the Pokemon actually transforms them back into spirit energy, and the inside the ball contains its own spiritual plane. These planes are not small and cramped like the size of the ball would suggest, but are actually quite spacious and comfortable for Pokemon.

Despite how insane that sounded, Harry also might’ve said that a forest inside a cave was impossible had he been asked the day before.

“The other point Harry has raised however is _very_ important, and is actually a large part of what I will teach you. I will teach you to recognise a Pokemon that wants to be captured, and to not accidentally capture a Pokemon that should not be, such as one who has just given birth.”

The more Master Sprout spoke, the better Harry felt about the issue. This was only his second class, but so far, Harry felt as though Hogwarts was everything he had dreamed it to be.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So this plot bunny kinda bit me square on the nose while I was watching Legend of Korra a little while ago and just had to be written. Please feel free to give me any constructive criticism or just comment if you have questions on the future of the fic. Hope you like!  
> -Ty


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